Fifth one-day international, Colombo:
Sri Lanka 320-8 (50 ovs) beat India 252 (48.5 ovs) by 68 runs
Match scorecard
 Dilshan's knock helped Sri Lanka record their largest total of the series |
Tillakaratne Dilshan fell three runs short of a century as Sri Lanka avoided a series whitewash with victory in the fifth one-day international with India. He put on 143 for the second wicket with Kumar Sangakkara (84) as the hosts set India a formidable target of 321. The tourists started poorly, slipping to 85-4, before Yuvraj Singh offered some resistance with 73 from 62 balls. Half centuries from Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja followed, but India were eventually all out for 252. The defeat halted India's run of nine straight wins in limited-overs internationals, which has lifted them to second, behind South Africa, in the world one-day rankings. They never seriously threatened their hosts as wickets fell at regular intervals, despite Singh's knock, which included 11 boundaries and a six, while 20-year-old debutant Jadeja remained unbeaten on 60. Dangerman Virender Sehwag fell cheaply for six to Thilan Thushara as India were reduced to 52-3 in the ninth over, while Muttiah Muralitharan, fresh from breaking Wasim Akram's world record of 502 wickets in ODIs, soon stopped the flow of runs and finished with figures of 2-41.  | 606: DEBATE |
After winning the toss, Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene chose to bat first and it proved to be a shrewd decision with Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya making a sound start. Jayasuriya was lucky to survive after being dropped at point by Jadeja when on 19, but his brief cameo was soon ended when Irfan Pathan had him caught at mid-off, bringing Sangakarra to the crease. The left-hander was quickly into his stride, reaching his half century off just 46 deliveries, before falling to fine running catch by Rohit Sharma off Singh. India captain Dhoni tried all his bowling options to unlock the Sri Lankan's and they briefly rallied as the hosts suffered a mini collapse to slip from 209-2 to 277-7. However, all-rounder Fareez Maharoof steered them past 300 with an impressive 32 which included a six and three boundaries, as Sri Lanka posted what to proved to be a winning total.
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