Commonwealth Bank Series: India v Sri Lanka – 5th One Day International – Match Recap
Sri Lanka 236 v India 236 – Match Draw
On Tuesday, February 14, 2012, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 in the fifth match of the ongoing tri-national Commonwealth Bank Series at Adelaide Oval, Australia.
India were certainly on the losing course and had it not been for a nerve wrecking innings from skipper Dhoni, the Men in Blue might have tasted defeat by the hands of the Lankans.
Under fire Dhoni pulled off a grace saving innings of 58 runs, as he stayed unbeaten at the end of the match to assure his side did not lose.
Dhoni’s innings has come at a time when the Indian captain is facing criticism for leading his team to a 4-0 Test whitewash by the hands of hosts http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, after which there have been calls for his removal.
However, with his heroics in this fixture, the wicketkeeper/batsman has certainly silenced his opposition.
Earlier, Sri Lanka after winning the toss chose to bat first as they aimed to put enough runs on the board to gain an upper hand against India.
However, they failed to get off to an impressive start as they lost their first wicket without registering a run on the score board as opener, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/WU-Tharanga-c2802, perished on a duck.
With just 28 runs on the board, they suffered the loss of their second wicket when the flamboyant http://www.senore.com/Cricket/TM-Dilshan-c2691 found his way back to the pavilion after playing an innings of 16 runs.
Sri Lanka, however, once again showed the strength in their middle-order batting line-up as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/LD-Chandimal-c1831 forged a potent partnership.
Sangakkara was the third wicket to fall as he perished after playing a well tamed innings of 31 runs.
Chandimal, was then joined by skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DPMD-Jayawardene-c1397, and once again the Sri Lankan pair crafted a resilient partnership.
With 173 runs on the board, the Lankans lost the wicket of their skipper, who departed after hammering a blistering innings of 43 runs.
Later, the Lankans amassed 236 runs on the board, with Chandimal contributing 81 runs.
With a decent target to achieve, the Indians also had a rocky start to their innings as they lost their star batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SR-Tendulkar-c2556 with only 24 runs on the board. The batting maestro departed after scoring only 15 runs.
By the time India reached 118 runs, they had lost four wickets and were seemingly losing the sting in the batting attack.
The departure of opener, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/G-Gambhir-c1447, who scored 91 runs, trigged a batting collapse as wickets fell at random. However, Dhoni stood defiant and averted an eminent defeat.
The Indian skipper also earned the Player of the Match award for his astounding performance.
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