INDIA WIN ODI SERIES AGAINST SRILANKA

 It was a low-key series that was overshadowed by the Olympics, but it resulted in a dramatic change in the rankings as India climbed up to No. 2 after shutting out Sri Lanka 4-1. India seemed to have the final one-dayer in the bag after running up 294 and then reducing Sri Lanka to 102 for 5, but a spirited stand between the inexperienced Lahiru Thirimanne and Jeevan Mendis kept the visitors sweating till the end.

Irfan Pathan more or less guaranteed the result in the 43rd over as he removed Mendis and Thisara Perera on his way to his second ODI five-for, capping a match in which he had already made an important contribution with the bat. A late replacement for the injured Vinay Kumar, Irfan has sealed his place as a bowling allrounder with his eight wickets at 26.37 and two vital performances with the bat.

He troubled Sri Lanka in his first over itself, getting Tillakaratne Dilshan to hole out to third man. In the absence of the injured Kumar Sangakkara and the resting Mahela Jayawardene - the first time in two years that the pair were missing an ODI - Dilshan had a big role to play, but fell for a duck.

Sri Lanka maintained a scorching pace early on, but lost their way once Upul Tharanga chipped a catch to cover in the eighth over. Dinesh Chandimal's forgettable series continued as he fell lbw to Ashok Dinda for 8, Angelo Mathews' first innings as one-day captain was ended by a direct hit from Manoj Tiwary, and Chamara Kapugedera wasted his umpteenth international comeback, walking after an lbw appeal.

That looked like game, set and match India but Sri Lanka weren't done yet. Thirimanne played his second responsible knock at No. 3 in five days, and Jeevan Mendis continued to prompt questions over why he had been offered such scattered opportunities with the national team so far after another battling innings. The two patiently resurrected the innings, and through some sensible cricket brought Sri Lanka back into the game, and when the part-time spin of Manoj Tiwary was caned for 14 in the 34th over, Sri Lanka were 187 for 5. With the big-hitting Perera still to come, they had a great chance of pulling off a consolation comeback victory.

Thirimanne, though, was run-out after a mix-up, and though Mendis kept Sri Lanka afloat, Perera slugged a catch to deep point. When Mendis' outstanding innings ended on 72 with a nick to the keeper off Irfan, Sri Lanka's hopes evaporated.

India's top order gave a better account of themselves than Sri Lanka's. There were half-centuries for Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni but the most significant innings in the dead rubber could be Manoj Tiwary's 65. For the second match in a row, he turned in a solid performance, strengthening his credentials for a hotly contested spot in the India's middle-order, most likely at the expense of Rohit Sharma.

Rohit, given a remarkably long rope by the team management, flopped for the fifth game in a row; his tally of 13 runs in the series is the lowest by a specialist India batsman in a five-match series and the chorus for his axing is only going to get louder.

Tiwary's debut was famously delayed by a shoulder injury in 2007, and he has had seven ODIs in the five years since. A match-winning century in another dead rubber last December only led to a long spell on the bench, but a four-for with some part-time leg spin in the previous match and a steadying 110-run partnership with Gambhir should earn him a few matches in the upcoming New Zealand series at home.

For the second time in three games, Malinga began an over in the batting Powerplay with two wickets in two balls, as he removed Tiwary and then the in-form Suresh Raina as India slid to 197 for 5. But, as in the third ODI, Irfan showed off his improved batting, and gave the specialist batsman enough of the strike to take apart the Sri Lanka bowling. That day it had been Raina, today it was Dhoni, who has had little to do in this series as players above him in the order have repeatedly done the job for the side. Dhoni began by carving Malinga for consecutive boundaries through cover and a typically busy innings, interspersed with boundaries, helped India take 75 off the final 10 overs.

While Dhoni piloted India at the end, Gambhir did it at the start. Even as Ajinkya Rahane failed to grab his chance, Virat Kohli had a rare failure and Rohit's horror run extended, Gambhir was unperturbed. Once again, he managed to score at almost a run a ball without seeming to play any big hits as he made his way to his third fifty-plus score of the series. He was closing in on his seventh ODI hundred against Sri Lanka before he was done in by the extra bounce from Senanayake.

It didn't matter, though as Irfan and Dhoni powered India to a big score, one which proved too tall for an inexperienced Sri Lanka line-up.

INDIA vs SRILANKA THIRD ODI MATCH PREVIEW

 After two contrasting matches in Hambantota, the teams gear up for another double-header at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, with the series neatly tied up at 1-1. Sri Lanka will be the more confident of the two sides after the nine-wicket hiding they dished out to India in the previous outing, but India have a superior record at the Premadasa, where the heat and humidity and shorter boundaries will feel more comfortable after blustery Hambantota.

India have won the last five matches at the Premadasa where they have used their preferred method - bat first, score big and let the pressure of the chase stifle the opposition. However, the pitch was relaid before the World Cup and run scoring at the Premadasa since then has not been easy; both seamers and slow bowlers were among wickets during the recent ODIs against Pakistan. After their struggle in the last ODI in Hambantota on a pitch that offered some help, the Premadasa pitch could offer another stiff challenge to India's batsmen.

Sri Lanka have only three wins out of nine - all batting first - against India in the last five years at the Premadasa, the last of those was when Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis were around to block India's escape routes in the middle overs. Sri Lanka would hope for similar pressure from their in-form bowler Thisara Perera. In the last two games, their batting was more consistent compared to the Indians, and their bowlers extracted movement from a pitch on which India's bowling appeared insipid.

But just as a big loss puts pressure on those who fail to perform, like Rohit Sharma in India's case, a big win hides deficiencies. Mahela Jayawardene would have welcomed the chase that ended within 20 overs in the previous game, but the batting form of Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne remains untested and the Sri Lanka captain would hope for some runs from the young middle-order batsmen.

Form guide

Sri Lanka WLWWW (Completed games, most recent first)
India LWWLW

Watch out for...

Upul Tharanga endured a tough series against Pakistan recently and was under pressure to hold his spot in the team. But an unbeaten half-century chasing India's modest total may have just boosted not only his confidence, but also Mahela Jayawardene's faith on the batting order.

While Virat Kohli has been hogging the limelight recently, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni's partnership down the order has gone unnoticed. The two have helped India convert good starts to tall totals and since CB series in Australia, they have scored 169 runs together from 17 overs. With Sri Lanka lacking express pace to bounce either of the two, the partnership will continue to a pose serious threat.

Team news

Pragyan Ojha's fitness is the only doubt surrounding the Indian team, with Gautam Gambhir saying fairlyemphatically that Rohit Sharma will not be dropped at this point.

India: (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Pragyan Ojha

Sri Lanka are likely to continue with the same squad that played in the second ODI.

Sri Lanka: (probable) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Angelo Mathews, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Isuru Udana, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Rangana Herath

Stats and trivia

• The average run-rate in 1st/2nd innings at the Premadasa from 2007 till before the World Cup was 5.22/4.58. Since the pitch was relaid, the average run-rate has changed to 4.37/4.81
• Angelo Mathews averages 33.56 with the bat after 78 matches. Against India, his average drops to 29.54. In Sri Lanka, it drops further to 26.35

Quotes

"When it comes to the [India] top order, they make a huge difference. If we can get a few wickets early on, we can put pressure the middle order batsmen."
Angelo Mathews 

"We need to remember that we are coming in after a two month break while Sri Lanka have been playing very good cricket and have beaten a very good side like Pakistan.

TEAM INDIA FINED FOR SLOW OVER RATE

MS Dhoni and India have been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate during their win in the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Hambantota. Dhoni has been fined 20% of his match fee, and the rest of his team 10%, after they were ruled to be an over short when time allowances were taken into consideration.

Dhoni has got into trouble for over-rate breaches in the past. In January this year, he was suspendedfrom the Adelaide Test against Australia due a slow over-rate in the previous Test in Perth. Dhoni had also been on notice after India were found short in Barbados in June-July last year. His woes, aside from the team's poor form in Australia, didn't end there. He was again suspended in February, this time for an ODI, after India fell short by two overs in a game against Australia in the CB series.

The fine was imposed after a full disciplinary hearing with the match-referee Chris Broad.

Following a groin injury to Nuwan Kulasekara - who was ruled out of the series after yesterday's game - during the Indian innings, it was unclear for a while if he'd come out to bat during Sri Lanka's chase. Sri Lanka lost their ninth wicket in the 49th over of the chase, and Kulasekara then walked in at No.11 - though part of the lower order, Kulasekara, when fit, batted much higher. Sri Lanka batted out the remainder of the innings with Lasith Malinga blasting 19 off 10 deliveries, 16 of them in the final over from Umesh Yadav.

INDIA BEAT SRILANKA IN FIRST ODI

India hardly looked a side playing their first match in four months. Their batsmen pounded Sri Lanka for a 300-plus total; their bowling, for once, did not fall apart and led by Irfan Pathan, ensured the total was a winning one. Virat Kohli, now easily one of the best ODI batsmen in the world, cracked his third consecutive century against Sri Lanka, his fourth in five innings, and his fifth successive fifty-plus score, equalling the Indian record. Virender Sehwag resembled a man playing his first international game in nearly five months only briefly, before scattering the field with a 97-ball 96. Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni made sure India recovered from a slight wobble, adding 79 in nine overs towards the finish.

Kumar Sangakkara responded with his third century in four international games, also only his second ODI hundred at home, but by the time he got credible support at the other end from No. 8 Thisara Perera, the match had slipped too far out of Sri Lanka's grasp. Perera did give India a scare, smacking 44 off 28 deliveries, but the departure of Sangakkara in the 48th over ended a stand of 78 off 53, and also Sri Lanka's hopes.

India had looked rusty initially, as Sehwag played-and-missed three successive times in Nuwan Kulasekara's opening over. In the second over, he sliced Lasith Malinga straight to point, where Tillakaratne Dilshan put the catch down. In the third over, Gautam Gambhir was almost run-out when he was caught in a big mix-up with Sehwag. It was Dilshan, again, who missed the direct hit from point. Gambhir departed next ball though, bowled round his legs off a straight ball from Kulasekara. Soon enough though, India settled in, Sehwag and Kohli putting the powerful line-up on its way to another big total.

Kohli's arrival immediately brought stability to the middle. He likes to get forward, and did so to defend solidly. One such push even earned him three runs past extra cover. He slashed his third ball for four past point, and Sehwag soon took over.

A Malinga length ball was driven on the up past extra cover, Kulasekara was slammed down the ground. Mahela Jayawardene took out fine leg and put in deep point inside the first Powerplay. Sehwag's response was to drill Angelo Mathews over cover for four more. In the eleventh over, Sehwag, on 24, tried to loft Perera over extra cover but mistimed the stroke. Kulasekara ran in from mid-off and dived forward to take the ball but Sehwag escaped as replays proved inconclusive, as they usually do in such cases. Kulasekara also injured his groin during the attempt, and bowled only five overs. Two balls later, it was Kohli's turn to escape as Perera failed to hold on to a tough return chance to his left. Kohli was on 16 then.

By the time Sri Lanka separated the pair in the 32nd over, they had added 173 at almost a run a ball. It was a furious Sehwag who departed, four short of what would have been his 16th ODI ton, run out by Perera after being sent back by Kohli while attempting a single.

India slipped from 180 for 1 to 228 for 4. Rohit Sharma was late on one that nipped back a bit and lost his off bail, before Kohli fell for 106, also a victim of Perera, caught sharply by substitute Sachithra Senanayake at extra cover in the 40th.

It looked as though Sri Lanka might keep things tidy in the final 10, with Raina and Dhoni picking off only one boundary in four overs. But then they launched, taking 64 off the final six overs - Raina got to a fifty off 44 balls, while Dhoni unleashed his signature helicopter shots - to make sure India got easily past the 300-run mark.

India's opening bowling pair of Zaheer Khan and Irfan generated enough movement in the first Powerplay to keep Sri Lanka to 41 for 1. R Ashwin took over and ensured Sri Lanka did not get away; he even bowled a wicket-maiden in the bowling Powerplay.

As the night grew darker in the forest surrounding the stadium, Sri Lanka's chances began to appear tougher. Sangakkara and Upul Tharanga did add 77 for the second wicket, but the stand ate up 105 balls and by the time the latter fell to Ashwin, the asking rate was approaching seven-and-a-half.

This was after Tillakaratne Dilshan had failed to capitalise, like Virender Sehwag had, on a dropped catch early in his innings. In Zaheer's opening over, Dilshan cracked his first ball for four, edged the second to slip only for Sehwag to clang it, and was out leg-before to his sixth, off Irfan, as he missed an attempted whip.

Sangakkara could have gone second ball, on 0, when he edged an away-going Irfan delivery just past second slip. He should have gone off Umesh Yadav's second ball, in the eleventh over, when he slashed between MS Dhoni and wide slip, but the wicketkeeper did not go for the catch.

Sangakkara struggled to accelerate during the middle of his innings, but he kept Sri Lanka going, even as his team-mates kept falling. No one from No. 1 to No. 7, barring Sangakkara, managed more than 28, falling to the pressure of the asking rate.

Sangakkara's century gave the crowd on the twin grass banks an opportunity to blow their horns louder, but even as he and Perera tried, the game had already blown away from Sri Lanka. To reach 293 from 191 for 6 in the 39th over was, in the end, quite an achievement.

MS DHONI'S LATEST INTERVIEW ON SRILANKA TOUR

 India captain MS Dhoni has said that the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka will help his team assess where they stand at the moment.

"It's the start of the season for us," Dhoni said on Wednesday, shortly after India had arrived in Colombo for the five ODIs and one-off Twenty20 against Sri Lanka. "There are certain areas where we've wanted to improve, where we've had a discussion saying these are the areas where we need to improve upon to consistently do well … This is a nice occasion to test how much we have improved and how much further we can actually improve on the field."

ndia are coming off a month-and-a-half long break and looked keen to get back into action, heading for a practice session at the R Premadasa Stadium soon after checking in to their hotel. "Today we landed over here, and we were on the field close to 4.30 pm," Dhoni said. "The good thing is the energy level is up, which means we can put in a bit more effort in the physical department and do a bit more active sports work."

He said India will not be thinking too much about getting a feel of the conditions ahead the World Twenty20, which will be played in Sri Lanka in September, during this series. "What's important is to be in the present, which means take this series into account not to think too much ahead about the World Twenty20. A good thing is most of the players who are part of this side will also be part of the Twenty20 side. We don't really need to think ahead of time."

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, need to build on their one-day and Test triumphs against Pakistan, according to captain Mahela Jayawardene. "We have just finished a series against Pakistan successfully and what is important is to continue with the good work," Jayawardene said. "We have to work hard to reach the goals we want to attain.

"It's a good opportunity against India. We need to take the team forward. We have brought in a few new players for the one-day side, and we have to think about the World Twenty20 and which of these players will be suitable for that competition."

The series, which begins in Hambantota on Saturday, will not feature the Decision Review System (DRS). Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said this was since India, as has been their stance all through, did not want the system in place. "As per the ICC guidelines, both teams have got to agree in having the DRS," Ranatunga said. "As far as the Indian board is concerned they are not in favour of that. That was a decision taken at ICC level."

Both teams will leave for Hambantota on Thursday.