12 Sep : Sri Lanka beat India by 139 runs in a inconsequential match of the Compaq Cup tri-series in Colombo on Saturday night.
Brief score:
Sri Lanka: 307 for 8 in 50 overs (Sanath Jayasuriya 98, Thilana Kadamby 91 not out).
India: 168 all out in 37.2 overs.
(Rahul Dravid 47, Sachin Tendulkar 27; A Mathews 6/20).
Jayasuriya smashed a scintillating 98 off just 79 balls at the top and Kamdamby hit his third ODI half century down the order to resurrect the hosts innings.
Sri Lanka were struggling at 176 for five after electing to bat but Kandambi and Chamara Kapugedara (36) rattled up 83 runs for the sixth wicket to pour water on India’s hopes.
The duo batted sensibly as they mostly relied on singles, picked up a boundary here and there and saved their last power-play for maximum utilisation.
A direct hit by RP Singh separated the pair at the fag end but Kandambi batted with vigour and punished all the Indian bowlers with utter disdain.
His 91 came off just 73 balls which included 11 shots to the fence as the last four overs yielded 46 runs.
Earlier, Jayasuriya’s knock, adorned with 13 boundaries, provided impetus to the Sri Lankan innings even as his partners kept changing from the other end.
Sri Lanka got off to a flying start with Tillakaratne Dilshan (23) and Jayasuriya relishing batting on a good track.
Dilshan hit a flashy square cut to fence off Nehra in the first ball of the match and then sent an exquisite straight drive to boundary ropes, to start the proceedings in a brilliant fashion for the hosts.