Sri Lanka trounce India at Dambulla
The Sri Lankans recorded a crushing 8 wicket win over http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 in the tri-series match at the Rangiri International Stadium in Dambulla to book their place in the final of the tournament.
This victory has pushed Sri Lanka to a total of 10 points in the series that takes them to the top of the standings. New Zealand is in the second spot whist the beleaguered Indians are on the third position.
However, if India succeeds in beating http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 in the last league match, they will book their place in the final of the tournament.
Indian Captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 and elected to bat first on a tricky wicket with a hope that his batsmen would succeed in mustering a challenging total for his bowlers. However, his plan back-fired big time as the visitors crumbled into a heap of garbage against the disciplined Sri Lankan attack lead by Lasith Malinga and right-armer Perera.
The Indians lost wickets from the outset. The first to go was http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Virender-Sehwag-c95429 who was sent back packing by Kulasekara who then accounted for Danesh Karthik as well.
The Indians were in deep trouble with the demise of Rohit Sharma who was dismissed by Angelo Matthews after being wrapped on the pads. Sharma scored 11 runs with two boundaries to his credit.
The rest of the Indian batting line-up caved as no batsman could survive. Suresh Raina was adjudged caught behind off Perera after escaping a similar appeal a few balls earlier.
Soon afterwards, MS Dhoni, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Praveen-Kumar-c82600 left one after the other.
The Indians crashed to 77/7 and looked set to be rolled over under the100 run mark. But Yuvraj Singh struck some important boundaries to propel the hosts past the three figure mark.
Yuvraj was unlucky to be given out lbw by umpire Asad Rauf when the ball bowled by Malinga appeared to be missing the off stump as the left-hander tried to work it on the on-side.
The Indian innings ended when Perera captured his fifth wicket of the innings when he clean bowled Ishant Sharma. The impressive right arm pacer returned with figures of 5 for 28 in 7.4 overs.
The visitors were rolled over for a paltry 103 which was their second failure with the bat in the tournament, followed by the dismal surrender to the Black Caps in the opening match when they were rolled over for 88.
The Sri Lankan chase started in style as Tillakaratne Dilshan found a reliable partner in Mahela Jayawardene who was sent to open with him.
The two right handers took full toll of some loose Indian bowling as the seamers tried their best to clinch a wicket or two.
Their partnership produced 79 runs in only 10 overs. It was broken when http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ishant-Sharma-c64566 got rid of Dilshan for 35 that came off only 23 balls and included as many as 8 fours.
Jayawardene followed on 33 as well when his attempted pull shot landed in the hands of Jadeja stationed at mid-wicket.
However, these two wickets were the only successes that the Indians could achieve as the Sri Lankans cantered home in 15.1 overs to record one of the most lop-sided wins in ODI’s in Sri Lanka.
The man-of-the-match award was won by Perera for his outstanding bowling effort. The Indians must beat the Black Caps in their last match if they are to reach the final of the tournament.
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