SEHWAG, BOWLERS HAND INDIA WIN WITH BONUS POINT

Having lost the toss once again, India bowled brilliantly to dismiss Sri Lanka for 170 and then Sehwag scored a brilliant unbeaten 99 to steer the visitors to a comfortable 6-wicket win.

After opting to bat, the Lankans got off to a worse possible start, losing Tharanga off the very first ball, bowled by Praveen Kumar. The hosts never recovered after that, finishing the Quick Start Overs on 40/3, followed by just 9/1 in Powerplay 2. Dilshan tried to keep the run-rate going but he too was dismissed for 45 and all of a sudden, the hosts were reeling at 103/7 in the 32nd over. However, Suraj Randiv played a fine knock of 43, propelling the Islanders to 170 as the home side scored 27/1 in the Batting Powerplay. Pragyan Ojha was the best bowler, finishing with 3/36 in 9.1 overs, ending up with a Bowling Efficiency of 229 while Praveen Kumar bowled well for his 2/20 in 8 overs, earning an Efficiency of 240.

In reply, India started cautiously, adding 30 for the opening wicket, but lost three wickets in three overs, ending the Quick Start Overs on 31/2, followed by 16/1 in Powerplay 2. Sehwag and Raina steadied the ship with a 59-run stand for the fourth wicket before the latter threw his wicket away on 21. However, captain Dhoni joined forces with his vice-captain Sehwag and the duo added an unbeaten 80 for the fifth wicket, steering India to a 6-wicket win, more importantly, with a bonus point. Sehwag finished unluckily unbeaten on 99, as the last ball of the match was a no-ball with India needing 1 run to win. He ended up with  a Batting Momentum of 138. Fernando and Mathews picked up a couple of wickets each, giving a slight shiver in the Indian camp, as the former earned a Bowling Efficiency of 145.

India finished on a much better Castrol Index of 162 as compared to Sri Lanka’s 91, but both teams were evenly matched in the Quick Start Overs and the Powerplay Overs. VIRENDER SEHWAG was named the MAN-OF-THE-MATCH for scoring 99 runs with the bat,  finishing on an overall Castrol Index of 233. SRI LANKA next take on NEW ZEALAND in the fourth game of the tri-series on Thursday, 19th of August, 2010 at 0900 GMT.