Sri Lanka vs India- Commonwealth Bank Series- Sri Lanka Won by 51 runs
A rejuvenated Sri Lankan contingent outshined India in the 8th match of the Commonwealth Bank series, played at Brisbane Cricket Ground on Feb 21, 2012.
India, in their run chase of 290, suffered a top-order collapse, and folded their innings on 238 in 45.1 overs - giving the Islanders their second consecutive victory.
After thrashing Australia in their last match at Sydney, The Lankans produced another all-around performance to leapfrog over their opponents into second, on the points table.
For this crucial match, the Men in Blue finally abandoned their much criticized rotational policy, as Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, who skippered the side in the absence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, all featured at the top. However, the
trio failed to assert any sort of dominancy, and fell cheaply.
Apart from Sehwag, other changes that were made to the team were, that Zaheer Khan and Rohit Sharma were left out, and they were replaced by Ravichandran Ashwin and Parthiv Patel.
Following the dismissal of their senior pros, the Indians finally reconstructed their innings through Virat Kohli (66) and Suresh Raina (32), as the pair added 92 runs for the fourth-wicket stand. However, the duo fell in the space of just five overs, which
gave their opponents the upper hand in the game.
A late counter-attack from Irfan Pathan followed, who made 47 off 34 balls with seven boundaries, but unlike the middle-order’s valuable contributions, the tail-enders failed to provide a supporting hand, which resulted in India’s second consecutive defeat
in the on-going series by 51 runs.
Earlier, Sri Lankan veteran batsmen, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan, gave their team an aggressive start, followed by outstanding contributions from the middle order batsmen, Dinesh Chandimal(38) and Lahiru Thirimanne( 62), which allowed their
side to compensate for the loss of their top order.
Also Angelo Mathew’s unbeaten 49- run cameo ensured that the innings ended on a high note as the Lankans posted a daunting 289.
The bowlers also complimented the batters, and bowled with discipline, while picking up wickets at regular intervals. Right-arm fast bowler, Thisara Perera, picked up four wickets, followed by Nuwan Kulasekara, who grabbed the crucial scalps of Tendulkar,
Gambhir and Ravindra Jadeja. He was deservedly declared as the Player of the Match.
This win takes Sri Lanka to second place on points table, leaving India bottom, with one point separating the two teams. The Asian Lions also have a game in hand.
The next contest of the CB tri-series is between Australia and Sri Lanka on Feb 24, 2012 at Hobart.