The Sri Lankans followed up a solid and well-paced batting performance with an incisive bowling display under the lights at the 'Gabba. The islanders were deserving winners here on Tuesday.
Braving a cloud cover and electing to bat, Mahela Jayawardene's men made a challenging 289 for six. The Indian innings, lacking resolve, concluded at 238 in the 46th over.
Sri Lanka now has 11 points from five matches in the Commonwealth Bank ODI tri-series. India, with 10 from six and a negative net run-rate, now finds itself in a precarious situation. Australia leads the table with 14 from five.
Only a valiant 34-ball 47 from Irfan Pathan prevented Sri Lanka from picking up a bonus point.
Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja promised briefly before the latter dragged a misfired yorker from Nuwan Kulasekara onto his stumps. Then, the Sri Lankan pacemen used the short-pitched ball effectively against the lower order on a lively surface.
Pathan, who pulled Kulasekera with power and fiercely drove Lasith Malinga through covers, was the last man to be dismissed when bowler Thisara Perera took a reflex catch.
Man-of-the-Match Kulasekara sent down his cutters with precision to scalp three. Perera, who was able to achieve skiddy bounce, claimed four.
Mahela Jayawardene shuffled his bowlers intelligently and his field placings were imaginative. Catches were put down, but the islanders had enough runs in the bank to apply pressure.
Early setback
India required a good start, but was dented early. Virender Sehwag slashed Lasith Malinga to be picked up at third man. Sachin Tendulkar, fluent until that point, played on while attempting to leave Kulasekara outside off.
And Gautam Gambhir needlessly stepped out to Kulasekara and ended up steering a back-of-a-length ball into gully's hands. India was tottering at 54 for three in the 12th over.
Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina strung together a 92-run partnership but both were lucky. Raina (on 4) was reprieved by Tillakaratne Dilshan at backward point off Angelo Mathews. Kohli was put down twice by Dinesh Chandimal (on 14 and 32) at deep mid-wicket. Perera and Malinga were the bowlers to suffer.
The right-left pair was collecting runs with nudges and pushes, the occasional drive, the odd whip or the glance when Farveez Maharoof broke the partnership.
Tame catch
Discomforted by the delivery's extra bounce, the left-handed Raina (32) offered a tame catch to short cover.
Kohli swung left-arm spinner Rangana Herath to the on-side fence and creamed Perera over point. But then, the canny Perera altered his length and consumed Kohli (66) on the pull. The Indian eleven sported three changes. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Zaheer Khan (perhaps on fitness grounds) and Rohit Sharma making way for Parthiv Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin and stand-in skipper Sehwag.
Having recovered from a back spasm, Sehwag was fit to lead the side. And as captain, he took the call to do away with the rotation policy of the senior top-order batsmen — Sehwag, Gambhir and Tendulkar were all part of the eleven.
Sehwag's tactics were very different from Dhoni's. Yadav was introduced in the sixth over and Ravindra Jadeja, who did not to bowl in the previous game, came in to bowl in the 12th. Left-arm spinner Jadeja denied the batsmen width as he completed his quota of 10 overs.
Yadav dismissed Kumar Sangakkara (8) on the pull — Tendulkar held a well-judged catch at deep square-leg — but struggled to hit the right length on a surface best suited to his bowling. Pathan bowled with control over line and length, moving the odd one in. The left-armer surprised a typically efficient Chandimal (38) with a swinging yorker with air speed.
Earlier, he had broken the 95-run opening partnership (in 18.4 overs) between Dilshan and Jayawardene. Jayawardene miscued an on-side blow and Sehwag flung himself to his left to complete a terrific catch.
Stroke-making ability
Dilshan's (51) stroke-making ability was evident — he forced Vinay Kumar to the cover fence and showcased another aspect of his batsmanship by gliding Ashwin past the ropes with soft hands. Jayawardene (45), a skilful batsman, mainly manipulated the ball for singles and twos. Back in the eleven, Ashwin held his own.
He stuck to an off-stump line and relied on extra bounce rather than spin. He snared Dilshan outside off and then prised out the smooth-stroking Thirimanne (62) when Raina, running to his left at sweeper cover and putting in a dive, emerged with the ball.
The left-handed Thirimanne presented an elegant picture with his cultured shot-making — he glided with deft touch and a stylish cover-drive off Yadav scorched the turf.
And Mathews (49 not out off 37 balls) powered the innings in the final phase as the islanders gathered a whopping 91 runs in the last 10 overs. Powerful with his horizontal bat shots, Mathews punished Yadav.
He also muscled Raina over long-on for the maximum. These were valuable runs.
Scoreboard
Sri Lanka: M. Jayawardene c Sehwag b Pathan 45 (35b, 2x4), T. Dilshan c Patel b Ashwin 51 (72b, 5x4, 1x6), K. Sangakkara c Tendulkar b Yadav 8 (15b), D. Chandimal b Pathan 38 (49b), L. Thirimanne c Raina b Ashwin 62 (62b, 6x4), A. Mathews (not out) 49 (37b, 4x4, 1x6), T. Perera b Raina 10 (7b, 1x4), F. Maharoof (not out) 4 (4b), Extras (b-1, lb-2, w-18, nb-1) 22, Total (for six wkts in 50 overs) 289.
Fall of wkts: 1-95 (Jayawardene), 2-104 (Dilshan), 3-124 (Sangakkara), 4-195 (Chandimal), 5-244 (Thirimanne), 6-265 (Perera).
India bowling: V. Kumar 8-1-48-0, Pathan 10-0-54-2, Yadav 8-0-58-1, Jadeja 10-0-43-0, Ashwin 10-0-50-2, Sehwag 2-0-9-0, Raina 1-0-10-1, Kohli 1-0-14-0.
India: V. Sehwag c Kulasekara b Malinga 0 (2b), S. Tendulkar b Kulasekara 22 (23b, 3x4), G. Gambhir c Perera b Kulasekara 29 (34b, 4x4), V. Kohli c Kulasekara b Perera 66 (83b, 2x4), S. Raina c Thirimanne b Maharoof 32 (55b, 1x4), R. Jadeja b Kulasekara 17 (21b, 1x4), I. Pathan c & b Perera 47 (34b, 7x4), P. Patel c Malinga b Perera 4 (7b), R. Ashwin c Sangakkara b Malinga 5 (6b), V. Kumar c sub (Senanayake) b Perera 0 (4b), U. Yadav (not out) 0 (2b), Extras (lb-7, w-9) 16, Total (all out in 45.1 overs) 238.
Fall of wkts: 1-0 (Sehwag), 2-38 (Tendulkar), 3-54 (Gambhir), 4-146 (Raina), 5-172 (Kohli), 6-191 (Jadeja), 7-215 (Pathan), 8-232 (Ashwin), 9-235 (V. Kumar).
Sri Lanka bowling: Malinga 8-0-55-2, Kulasekara 9-0-40-3, Maharoof 10-1-52-1, Mathews 4-0-12-0, Perera 7.1-0-37-4, Herath 7-0-35-0.
