All good things come to an end. The Indian winning streak came to an end today in the last ODI between India and Sri Lanka in the most forgettable manner.

Sri Lanka crushed India by a 112-run defeat in Premdasa today. Sri Lanka could not alter the decision for the series with this victory but did enough to spoil the Indian party. The consolation win must have reinstated confidence in the Sri Lankans after a sorry series against the Indians.

Jayawardene won his first toss in the series and following the winning trend, he elected to bat first. The first blow came very early when Jayasuriya left for pavilion at 1 but then the Sri Lankan batting went steady. The 77-run partnership between Mahela Udawatte and Malinda Warnapura took Sri Lanka to a commanding position. Thilan Thushara came in at 133-6 and his knock of 54* steered his team to 227.

The target wasn’t impossible; especially going by the way Team India had been performing in the last three matches. It could be fatigue or contentment but India didn’t seem in a mood to put up any fight to salvage the match. India was very much in the game when rain interrupted the play. The target was revised according to Duckworth-Lewis system to 216 runs in 44 overs. Suresh Raina lost his wicket once the game resumed and thus began the great Indian fall.

India lost 8 wickets in an interval of 12.2 overs. India before rain at 70-3 succumbed at 103 for all in 26 overs. The top scorer for the innings was Virat Kohli with 31 juxtaposed with seven batsmen who collectively scored 33 runs! Kulasekara and Mendis claimed 4 wickets each.

Indian captain MS Dhoni was adjudged the Man of the Series for his spectacular performance throughout the series. India sees bright promise in rookie Virat Kohli and a welcome comeback from Zaheer Khan.

The loss is humiliating but the series victory has outshined this defeat. India has won their first ever bilateral series in Sri Lanka and fans cannot seem to care less about the final ODI result. The Men in Blue had expanded all their energies in reviving and finally winning the series after a fatal defeat in the first ODI itself. The Indian fans are generous enough to overlook this defeat and join in the celebration with the team. Cricket360 cheers the Team India!

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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