One-day tri-series, Dambulla:
Sri Lanka 299-8 (50 ovs) beat India 225 (46.5 ovs) by 74 runs
Match scorecard

Dilshan hit his eighth one-day century in 188 matches

A Tillakaratne Dilshan century inspired Sri Lanka to a resounding 74-run over India in the Triangular Series final.

The opener hit 110, sharing an 85-run stand with Kumar Sangakkara (71) as the hosts finished on 299-8 in Dambulla.

India's chase faltered when Virender Sehwag (28) was run out while captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (67) was last man out as India subsided to 225 all out.

Thissara Perera (3-36) and Suraj Randiv (3-40) impressed while Lasith Malinga picked up two wickets.

Perera was the architect of Sri Lanka's comprehensive eight-wicket win against India after returning figures of 5-28 last Sunday.

And the seamer once again played a significant role in the tourists' downfall, taking the crucial wickets of Virat Kohli (37) Yuvraj Singh (26) just as both batsmen were finding their stride in the run chase.

"Thisara Perera lengthens our batting, but his bowling has been very impressive in the last couple of games," said Sangakkara.

Credit goes to Sri Lanka as they batted and bowled well. Our bowlers gave them a bit of width and that's one thing you don't want to give Dilshan India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni

"The discipline in line and length has been the key for us."

On the best batting surface of the tournament at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Sri Lanka captain Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat.

And he was rewarded by a solid 121-run opening partnership between Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene, with the former taking control of proceedings with his distinctive style of strokeplay.

Former captain Jayawardene, who became the third Sri Lankan after Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva to register 9,000 one-day international runs, fell for 39, quickly followed by Upal Tharanga in the 20th over.

But Sangakkara steadied the innings, building a solid platform alongside Dilshan as India's four-pronged seam attack faltered.

Dilshan struck 12 boundaries and a six in his entertaining 115-ball innings, with the six lifted over mid-on off Ishant.

However, his tenure was brought to an end in the 40th over when he was caught by Ishant off Praveen Kumar.

Chamara Silva (26 not out) pushed Sri Lanka to the brink of the 300-run mark, while Munaf Patel and Ishant each collected two wickets.

606: DEBATE Congratulations! Well played SL well-deserved to win. India will have go back to drawing board hokeye_on a sticky wicket

India's riposte began in the worst possible fashion when opener Dinesh Karthik was caught behind off the final ball of the first over from Malinga.

And their hopes of victory faded when Sehwag - the tournament's top run-scorer - was run out attempting to sneak an impossible leg bye as Sri Lanka appealed for lbw.

The dismissals of Kohli and Yuvraj, along with Suresh Raina (29), left captain Dhoni exposed with the tail after Rohit Sharma's dismissal in the 35th over.

And Dhoni was the last man to fall as he attempted a smash spinner Randiv, but only succeeded in dragging the ball onto his stumps.

"We just didn't spend enough time in the middle," said Dhoni.

"Credit goes to Sri Lanka as they batted and bowled well. Our bowlers gave them a bit of width and that's one thing you don't want to give Dilshan - he smashed us all around the park."

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