Samaraweera fires Sri Lanka to victory
Thilan Samaraweera smashed a career-best 105 not out to guide Sri
Lanka to a five-wicket win over India in a triangular one-day series
match here on Tuesday. The middle-order batsman hit 11 fours in his
106-ball knock for his second one-day hundred as Sri Lanka surpassed
India’s 279-9 with 12 balls to spare in the day-night match for their
second successive victory.
Samaraweera, who has played 57 Tests but only 29 one-dayers before
this game, added 122 for the third wicket with skipper Kumar Sangakkara
(60) and 57 for the unfinished sixth with Thissara Perera, who hit a
brisk 15-ball 36 not out. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh kept up India’s
hopes with three wickets, including that of Sangakkara, but Samaraweera
and Perera held their nerve under pressure to steer their team home.
The spinner provided the crucial breakthrough when he had Sangakkara
caught by Suresh Raina in the covers, but there was no stopping
Samaraweera who continued to dominate the Indian attack with a wide
range of strokes. Sangakkara also became the fifth Sri Lankan to
complete 8,000 one-day runs during his 80-ball knock after Sanath
Jayasuriya, Aravinda de Silva, Marvan Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene.
The Sri Lankan skipper and man-of-the-match Samaraweera built on the
efforts of Upul Tharanga (30) and debutant Lahiru Thirimanne (22) who
gave their side a healthy 48-run start.
Left-arm paceman Chanaka Welegedara earlier helped Sri Lanka restrict
India, despite a solid 74 from Yuvraj Singh. The Sri Lankan finished
with 5-66, his maiden five-wicket haul in six one-day internationals.
India, put in to bat, were struggling at 71-3 following a three-wicket
burst from Welegedara before Yuvraj propped up the innings with a 99-run
stand for the fourth wicket with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (37).
Welegedara removed Gautam Gambhir (eight), Virat Kohli (nine) and
Virender Sehwag (47) in his first spell before accounting for Raina (35)
and Zaheer Khan (two) in the second.
Sehwag smashed nine fours in his impressive 31-ball cameo before
being caught at mid-off by Thirimanne off a leading edge.
Yuvraj was more aggressive than his captain and reached his
half-century in style, lofting part-time spinner Thilina Kandamby over
long-on for a six.
He fell in a bid to step up the run-rate, caught in the deep off
paceman Perera after hitting two sixes and six fours.
AFP
SCORECARD
INDIA
G. Gambhir b Welegedara 08
V. Sehwag c Thirimanne b Welegedara 47
V. Kohli c Sangakkara b Welegedara 09
Yuvraj Singh c Lakmal b Perera 74
MS Dhoni c Sangakkara b Perera 37
S. Raina b Welegedara 35
R. Jadeja c Kandamby b Thushara 39
Harbhajan Singh c Perera b Thushara 01
Zaheer Khan b Welegedara 02
A. Nehra not out 04
S. Sreesanth not out 01
EXTRAS (b3, lb3, nb4, w12) 22
TOTAL (for nine wickets; 50 overs) 279
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-14 (Gambhir), 2-62 (Kohli), 3-71 (Sehwag), 4-170 (Dhoni),
5-198 (Yuvraj), 6-263 (Raina), 7-264 (Harbhajan), 8-268 (Zaheer), 9-275
(Jadeja).
BOWLING: Welegedara 10-1-66-5 (nb4, w8), Lakmal 8-1-48-0 (w1), Thushara 10-0-62-2 (w1),
Randiv 10-0-36-0, Kandamby 4-1-22-0 (w1), Samaraweera 2-0-12-0, Perera 6-0-27-2 (w1).
SRI LANKA
U. Tharanga c and b Harbhajan 30
L. Thirimanne c Gambhir b Sreesanth 22
K. Sangakkara c Raina b Harbhajan 60
T. Samaraweera not out 105
T. Kandamby c Sreesanth b Harbhajan 08
S. Randiv run out 04
T. Perera not out 36
EXTRAS (lb1, nb5, w12) 18
TOTAL (for five wickets; 48 overs) 283
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-48 (Thirimanne), 2-77 (Tharanga), 3-199 (Sangakkara),
4-217 (Kandamby), 5-226 (Randiv).
BOWLING: Zaheer 9-0-57-0 (w7), Nehra 8-0-55-0 (nb3, w2), Sreesanth 7-0-47-1 (nb2, w1),
Harbhajan 10-1-47-3, Sehwag 5-0-26-0, Jadeja 4-0-31-0, Yuvraj 5-0-19-0 (w2).
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