INDIA picked up their first Asia Cup title in 15 years as four wickets from Ashish Nehra and a measured half-century from Dinesh Karthik helped them secure an emphatic 81-run win over Sri Lanka in Dambulla. Zaheer Khan and Ravindra Jadeja also chipped in with two wickets apiece as the bowlers capitalised on an impressive batting performance of 268 for six to see India over the line with ease.
Needing 269 to win the home side’s top order crumbled in the face of strong Indian bowling and fielding and despite a valiant unbeaten half-century from Chamara Kapugedera, the Lions were bundled out for 187 with 5.2 overs left.
Sri Lanka lost Tillakaratne Dilshan in the first over, caught at mid on off Praveen Kumar. Their worries were compounded in the eighth over when Upul Tharanga was clean-bowled by a fine in-swinger from Khan.
Skipper Kumar Sangakkara kept things stable for a while, but the home side were rocked twice in the 14th over as Nehra prompted two caught-behinds in the space of three deliveries – Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews his victims.
Nehra picked up a third wicket in his very next over, Sangakkara succumbing to the pressure and popping an easy catch to mid-on to exit for 17.
Thilina Kandamby (31) and Chamara Kapugedera (55 n,o.) managed to work together for a 53-run sixth-wicket stand, but poor calling between the wickets resulted in a horrific mix-up, leaving Kandamby run-out.
Kapugedera smashed Nehra for a huge six to reach his fifty, giving the Lions faint hope of a dramatic comeback, but eventually ran out of partners, leaving Sri Lanka well short of their target.
Earlier in the day, Karthik reached his fifth one-day fifty in 51 deliveries with a well-placed boundary off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan but then fell to the lure of the big shot off the bowling of spinner Kandamby and lobbed a simple catch to Jayawardene at deep square leg.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni held the innings together with a patient 38 from 50 balls, but ended up being Kandamby’s second victim when he was brilliantly caught at backward point by Nuwan Kulasekara. (Cricinfo)
INDIA innings
G. Gambhir run-out 15
D. Karthik c Jayawardene b Kandamby 66
V. Kohli c Sangakkara b Malinga 28
MS.Dhoni c Kulasekara b Kandamby 38
R. Sharma c Maharoof b Kulasekara 41
S. Raina lbw b Malinga 29
R. Jadeja not out 25
Harbhajan Singh not out 7
Extras: (b-2, lb-7, w-9, nb-1) 19
Total: (for six wickets, 50 overs) 268
Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-100, 3-146, 4-167, 5-217, 6-249.
Bowling: Kulasekara 9-0-44-1 (w-2), Malinga 10-0-57-2 (nb-1, w-6), Maharoof 6-0-41-0, Mathews 3-1-16-0, Muralitharan 10-0-34-0, Kandamby 7-0-37-2, Dilshan 5-0-30-0 (w-1).
SRI LANKA innings
U. Tharanga b Khan 16
T. Dilshan c Harbhajan b Kumar 0
K. Sangakkara c Khan b Nehra 17
M. Jayawardene c Dhoni b Nehra 11
A. Mathews c Dhoni b Nehra 0
T. Kandamby run-out 31
C. Kapugedera not out 55
F. Maharoof c Dhoni b Khan 10
N. Kulasekara stp. Dhoni b Jadeja 20
L. Malinga c Jadeja b Nehra 7
M. Muralitharan c Dhoni b Jadeja 2
Extras: (b-4, lb-3, w-9, nb-2) 18
Total: (all out, 44.4 overs) 187
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-31, 3-50, 4-50, 5-51, 6-104, 7-132, 8-168, 9-177.
Bowling: Kumar 9-1-29-1, Khan 8-2-36-2, Nehra 9-0-40-4, Harbhajan 9-0-30-0, Kohli 3-0-16-0, Jadeja 6.4-0-29-2.
India pick up first Asia Cup title in 15 years
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