Sri Lanka rout spineless India by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

---

Ground:	Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Dambulla
Scorecard:	Sri Lanka v India
Player:	NLTC Perera, Yuvraj Singh
Event:	Sri Lanka Tri Series 2010

---

DateLine: 22nd August 2010

 

Sri Lanka handed India their biggest ODI defeat in terms of balls remaining as the hosts stormed into the final of the tri-series. Thisara Perera produced a superb spell of seam bowling to record his maiden five-wicket haul.

 

Perera ripped through the Indian middle order as the visitors crashed for a paltry 103 in just 33.4 overs. Sri Lankans scored the required runs of 104 in just 15.1 overs to gain a bonus point and become the first team to move into the final.

 

Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene plundered the runs before Ishant Sharma dismissed both the openers.

 

The hosts completed their league engagements with 11 points and India will have to now win their last match against New Zealand on Wednesday to secure a berth in the final. New Zealand have seven points and India five points.

 

Only Yuvraj Singh provided a semblance of resistance with a gritty 38 as the the Indian batsmen succumbed tamely. Dhoni's decision to bat first after winning the toss completely backfired. The Indians never really recovered from a poor start as wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals with the hosts exploiting the overcast conditions well.

 

Paceman Kulasekara struck the first blow by getting rid of dangerman Virender Sehwag. Dinesh Karthik, who has struggled to find form right through the series, was the next man to be dismissed with Kulasekara doing the damage again. With India struggling at 26 for two, Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh tried to steady the innings by playing cautiously against the Sri Lankan speedsters who bowled a disciplined line and length.

 

Rohit Sharma, who has also been struggling to find form, could not hang around for long, as Angelo Mathews dismissed him with an inswinger which trapped the batsman plumb in front of the wicket. Suresh Raina joined him in the pavilion as he fell prey to Perera and the Indians were in the doldrums at a precarious 61 for four in the 18th over. Perera removed Dhoni who edged the ball to Sangakkara behind the stumps. Perera then removed Ravindra Jadeja for a nine-ball duck and dismissed Praveen Kumar in the very first ball with Tharanga latching on to a simple catch at mid-off.

 

Yuvraj, who returned to the team after being laid low by a mild dengue, was the only batsmen who seemed comfortable in the middle as wickets kept falling at the other end.