India vs Sri Lanka Cricket Series 2008
Comprehensive Cricket News, Latest Information and Live ball-by-ball Commentary.India vs Sri Lanka Cricket Series 2008
India will play 5 ODIs and 3 Tests during the Sri Lankan tour starting July 23, 2008.
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- Wed 23 - Sun 27 July, 2008 : India vs Sri Lanka First Test at Colombo
- Thu 31 July - Mon 4 August, 2008 : India vs Sri Lanka Second Test at Galle
- Fri 8 - Tue 12 August, 2008: India vs Sri Lanka Third Test at Colombo
- Mon 18 August, 2008 : India vs Sri Lanka Ist ODI at Dambulla
- Wed 20 August, 2008 : India vs Sri Lanka 2nd ODI at Dambulla
- Sun 24 August, 2008 : India vs Sri Lanka 3rd ODI at Colombo
- Tue 26 August, 2008 : India vs Sri Lanka 4th ODI at Colombo
- Fri 29 August, 2008 : India vs Sri Lanka 5th ODI at Colombo
India in Sri Lanka CricketSeries 2008
India vs Srilanka Live Cricket ScoreIndia vs Sri Lanka 3rd ODI at Colombo
IND vs SL, 3rd ODI, Colombo: India win despite Jayawardene scare (2:1)
Aug 24, 2008
India posted a 33-run victory over Sri Lanka in the third ODI at Colombo on Sunday despite a fighting 94 from skipper Mahela Jayawardene.
Sri Lanka were in deep trouble at 94-7 chasing a 238-run target but Jayawardene gave a scare or two to India, adding 81 for the eighth wicket with Thilan Thushara. Jayawardene was the ninth man out after hitting one six and six fours in his 111-ball knock as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 204 under lights. The home side now trail 2-1 in the five-match series.
"It's always better to win through collective effort and it shows that we are not relying on any individual," said India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. "There are two more matches to go and we will play to win."
The stiff resistance from the Sri Lankan skipper and Thushara came after fast bowlers Zaheer Khan (3-23) and Praveen Kumar (2-62) threatened to lead India to an easy victory. But despite their efforts, the asking rate kept climbing and Zaheer eventually broke the stubborn stand when he bowled Thushara, who was dropped twice.
Sri Lanka's bid to attack the new-ball bowlers from the beginning of their innings backfired, with Sanath Jayasuriya (13), Kumar Sangakkara (nine) and Chamara Kapugedera (12) all falling cheaply. Jayasuriya smashed three fours off Kumar before he was dismissed in the bowler's third over, edging an away-going delivery to wicketkeeper Dhoni while attempting to cut.
Sangakkara was trapped leg-before by Zaheer immediately after cutting the bowler for a four, while Kapugedera was dismissed after lofting Kumar over midwicket for a six. India threatened to reduce the match to a no-contest when Zaheer trapped Chamara Silva leg-before to leave the hosts reeling at 40-4 in the 10th over, but Jayawardene received valuable support from Thushara.
"I don't think we deserved to win. We made too many mistakes with the bat," said Jayawardene. "We knew we had to negotiate the first 15 overs, but we lost four quick wickets and it was an uphill task from there."
India earlier had impressive batting efforts from Dhoni (76) and Suresh Raina (53) to thank for their 237 total after struggling at 91-4. Dhoni put on 54 for the fifth wicket with Raina and 67 for the next with Rohit Sharma (32).
The Indian captain stepped up the run-rate with bold hitting in the closing 10 overs, which yielded 70 runs. He hit eight fours in his 23rd half-century. Unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis finished with 3-56, including the wickets of Harbhajan Singh and Dhoni off successive balls in his last over. Seamers Nuwan Kulasekara and Thushara each took two wickets.
A pair of run-outs at crucial stages affected India's chances of posting a big total after they elected to bat on a slow pitch. Virat Kohli (25) had been batting confidently before becoming the first run-out victim, failing to beat a direct hit.
Raina looked set to play a major innings when he was caught short of the crease following a mix-up with Dhoni. He struck a six off Mendis and four boundaries in an 80-ball knock for his sixth half-century.
IND vs SL, 3rd ODI, Colombo: India 237 for 9 (50.0 overs) beat Sri Lanka 204 all out (49.0 overs) by 33 runs
IND vs SL, 3rd ODI, Colombo: Gambhir boost for India in third ODI
Aug 23, 2008
After two low-scoring games, the third ODI between India and Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium at Colombo on Sunday is expected to be a run feast.
The focus, however, will be on Sri Lanka's ace paceman Chaminda Vaas, who has recovered from a hamstring injury and is expected to play Sunday, having missed the second game Wednesday. Vaas requires one more wicket to join the elite club of Wasim Akram, Muttiah Muralitharan and Waqar Younis as the fourth player to have taken 400 ODI wickets.
India, who have been handicapped by injuries, will be happy with the return of opener Gautam Gambhir, who missed the last match due to a stiff neck. India's captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, though, did not reveal who will make way for Gambhir.
"We have not decided on the combination yet. We will decide in the morning whether we want to go with seven batsmen or five bowlers," Dhoni told reporters on Saturday. Either Irfan Pathan or middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma will have to make way for the 26-year-old left-handed Gambhir, one of the few Indian players to have played Sri Lanka's spinners well.
The fourth and fifth ODIs will also be day-night affairs at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Tuesday and Friday. Sri Lanka team (from): Mahela Jayawardene (Captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara (wicketkeeper), Chamara Kapugedara, Chamara Silva, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Tushara Mirando, Ajantha Mendis, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dilhara Fernando, Malinda Warnapura, Jehan Mubarak and Mahela Udawatte.
India team (from): Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain and wicketkeeper), Subramaniam Badrinath, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Munaf Patel and Pragyan Ojha.
India in Sri Lanka CricketSeries 2008
India vs Srilanka Live Cricket ScoreIndia vs Sri Lanka 3rd ODI at Colombo
Scorecard
India won the toss and decided to bat
237 for 9 (50.0 overs)
|
204 all out (49.0 overs)
|
Runs |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
|||
Kohli | run out | 25 |
38 | 4 | 0 | |
Gambhir | lbw | b Kulasekara | 8 |
20 | 0 | 0 |
Yuvraj | c M Jayawardene | b Kulasekara | 12 |
17 | 0 | 1 |
Raina | run out | 53 |
80 | 4 | 1 | |
Badrinath | c Vaas | b Mendis | 6 |
19 | 0 | 0 |
Dhoni | c M Jayawardene | b Mendis | 76 |
80 | 8 | 0 |
R Sharma | c Kapugedera | b Thushara | 32 |
32 | 3 | 0 |
Harbhajan | c Sangakkara | b Mendis | 2 |
6 | 0 | 0 |
Kumar | not out | 2 |
3 | 0 | 0 | |
Zaheer | c Muralitharan | b Thushara | 1 |
6 | 0 | 0 |
Extras | 1nb 11w 2b 6lb | 20 | ||||
Total | for 9 | 237 | (50.0 ovs) |
|
|
Runs |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
|||
Jayasuriya | c Dhoni | b Kumar | 13 |
15 | 3 | 0 |
Sangakkara | lbw | b Zaheer | 9 |
12 | 2 | 0 |
Kapugedera | lbw | b Kumar | 12 |
17 | 1 | 1 |
M Jayawardene | c Kumar | b Patel | 94 |
111 | 6 | 1 |
Silva | lbw | b Zaheer | 1 |
5 | 0 | 0 |
Dilshan | c Dhoni | b Patel | 16 |
21 | 3 | 0 |
Vaas | b Harbhajan | 0 |
4 | 0 | 0 | |
Kulasekara | lbw | b Yuvraj | 11 |
30 | 0 | 0 |
Thushara | b Zaheer | 30 |
55 | 2 | 0 | |
Mendis | not out | 6 |
10 | 0 | 0 | |
Muralitharan | b Patel | 6 |
14 | 0 | 0 | |
Extras | 4w 2lb | 6 | ||||
Total | all out | 204 | (49.0 ovs) |
|
|
Umpires: B R Doctrove, T H Wijewardene
Sri Lanka: Jayasuriya, Sangakkara, M Jayawardene, Kapugedera, Silva, Dilshan, Kulasekara, Vaas, Thushara, Mendis, Muralitharan
India: Gambhir, Kohli, Raina, Yuvraj, R Sharma, Badrinath, Dhoni, Kumar, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Patel