India thump SL; storm into Bangla tri-series final

India defeated Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in a one-sided encounter at Mirpur.

Vaibhav Arora/Zeecric Bureau

Mirpur: India booked a place in the final of the tri-series as they thumped Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in a one-sided encounter played here at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. It was a clinical performance by the Indian batsmen as they chased down the 214-run target with more than 17 overs to spare after the bowlers had restricted the Lankans to a paltry 213 in the first session. Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir top scored for the Indians with 71 each, the former remaining unbeaten. Zaheer Khan was declared the Man of the Match for his 3 wickets. India were off to a good start as the opening pair of Gambhir and Dinesh Karthik took the score past the 50-run mark in just the 7th over of the innings. After scoring a quick 48 off just 40 deliveries, Karthik departed to give Sri Lanka their first wicket of the innings. Karthik, who was caught behind the wickets by Sangakkara off Thilan Thushara, added 89 runs with Gambhir. Gambhir, though, continued to delight the sparse crowd present at the ground as he struck a fighting half-ton. Gambhir’s fifty came off 67 balls and included 7 hits past the boundary ropes.A little while later, Gambhir and Kohli completed their half-century partnership as they took India past the 150-run mark. Kohli, who came in at the fall of Karthik’s wicket looked in good touch while Gambhir continued to torment the Sri Lankan bowlers. However, after scoring a brilliant 71 off 86 balls, Gambhir departed, caught by Welegedara off Perera. Gambhir’s innings was studded with 10 fours. Kohli continued his good run of form as he slammed yet another fifty to help India inch closer to the victory target. Sri Lankan innings In the morning, Zaheer Khan and Amit Mishra took three wickets each as Sri Lanka, electing to bat first after winning the toss, were bundled up for a paltry 213. Sudeep Tyagi and S Sreesanth were the other wicket takers in the innings, with a scalp each. For the Lankans, Kumar Sangakkara scored a flowing 68 while Suraj Randiv managed a fighting 56. None of the other batsmen, however, tried to apply himself as the Lankans, at one stage, found themselves looking down the barrel at 84/6, but made a recovery of sorts through two 59-run partnerships for the seventh and eighth wicket. Tyagi took India off to a dream start as he removed Upul Tharanga in the very first over of the innings. Tharanga was caught by Karthik for a duck. Tillakaratne Dilshan, however, was in no mood to settle down and smashed three consecutive boundaries off Tyagi. After scoring 33 runs off just 17 balls, Dilshan was sent back by Zaheer Khan, much to the relief of the Indian bowlers. Dilshan was looking in ominous touch as he spanked 8 fours in his innings before being caught by Gautam Gambhir at slip. Zaheer Khan picked up his second wicket of the innings as he sent back Mahela Jayawardene to reduce the Sri Lankan team to 60/3. Jayawardene was caught by Virat Kohli at short cover for 5. Moments after the wicket of Jayawardene, Sri Lanka suffered another blow as they lost the wicket of Samaraweera for a duck. Samaraweera was trapped in front of the wickets by Sreesanth. Sri Lanka lost their fifth wicket in the form of Thilina Kandamby, who was run-out as a result of a mix-up with Sangakkkara for just 1.Thisarra Perera departed to a stupendous catch by Yuvraj Singh off Mishra in the deep as Sri Lanka lost their sixth wicket with just 84 runs on the board. After fighting a lone battle for his team, Kumar Sangakkara finally departed for 68 as Sri Lanka were reduced to 143/7. Sangakkara was caught by Suresh Raina off Yuvraj Singh as he mistimed a pull-shot. Suraj Randiv scored a fighting half-ton and put on a half century partnership with Thilan Thushara as Sri Lanka crawled back into the match. Sri Lanka, however, lost the wicket of Thushara soon after as he was brilliantly caught by Yuvraj Singh off Zaheer Khan for 28. Soon after, India picked up yet another wicket as Amit Mishara cleaned up Suraj Randiv for 56. The Lankan scorecard read 209/9. Welegedara was the last wicket to fall as he was stumped by Dhoni off Amit Mishra for 1. India had made three changes to their squad for the match as Karhik, Mishra and Tyagi came in, in place of Sehwag, Harbhajan and Nehra. Teams: India: Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w/c), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Sudeep Tyagi Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara(w/c), Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Thilina Kandamby, Thissara Perera, Thilan Thushara, Suraj Randiv, Suranga Lakmal, Chanaka Welegedara