Sri Lanka literally ran out of luck in the fag end of the second ODI against India as they let the match conveniently under their control slip out to the tourists. Colombo saw some nail-biting action tonight which ended in a national disappointment. India sneaked away the victory by 15 runs with 4 deliveries remaining.

MSD’s decision to bat first after winning the toss seemed the right thing to do in a D/N fixture. Tendulkar (6) went away soon after the match started while the team total was 13, much like the first ODI. No, the team didn’t crumble in the usual domino-toppling method after that but didn’t repeat the resilience displayed in the last match. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir tailored a 49-run partnership which gave India a stable platform to build the innings upon. Ferveez Maharoof tolled Gambhir (27), Sehwag was run out at 42 and India looked slim at 83-3. Yuvraj Singh ignited a run-fest and obtained 66 runs out of 88 balls which included 7 boundaries and 1 six. India never really looked in trouble after that as Suresh Raina (29), MSD (23) and Yusuf Pathan (21) kept the scoreboard ticking. India ended their fifty overs at a score of 256 runs; Kulasekara, Maharoof and Mendis getting two wickets each.

Sri Lanka suffered early damage as they lost three quick wickets before they reached a team total of 40. Zaheer Khan claimed Dilshan (8), previous match’s centurion Jayasuriya (17) went to Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar got Sangakkara (4). From there, Jayawardene (52) and Kandamby (93*) picked the innings from the dumps and the fans saw a fair chance of victory. Wickets fell every now and then but Sri Lanka retained control of the match. The downfall started with as Thushara (7) fell victim to Ishant while the hosts looked comfortable needing 28 runs off 20 deliveries. Murali (3), Kulasekara (1) followed shortly after, leaving Mendis (0) with a Herculean task to drive the final nail in the coffin.

Ishant Sharma won the Man of the Match title for his superb spell with the ball as he clinched 4 for 57.

With this loss, Sri Lanka are two down in the 5-match ODI home series. High on the 2-1 ODI success in Pakistan, fatigue and over-confidence appear to be taking their toll.

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

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