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50 overs Sri Lanka 286 for 5 (Mathews 71*, Sangakkara 73) v India
Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara pulled Sri Lanka out of trouble with a 121-run stand © AFP
Two high-quality century partnerships were the story of the Sri Lankan innings, as they recovered from a poor start to post an imposing 286 for 5 in Colombo. After three early wickets had gone down, Sri Lanka's two best batsmen, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, once again offered a masterclass on how to construct an ODI innings with a 121-run stand. Then, Angelo Mathews and Jeevan Mendis finished the innings to perfection with a 104-run stand for the sixth, including 97 in the last ten overs.
Since the 2011 World Cup, when the pitch at the Premadasa Stadium was relaid, teams batting second have had the upper hand, winning seven out of ten games, but Jayawardene ignored that stat when he chose to bat on what looked like a firm and true surface. That move seemed a bad one when three top-order wickets fell within the first six overs, as Zaheer Khan, the pick of the Indian bowlers, and Irfan Pathan found bounce, seam and swing.
These were conditions which tested the technique and skill of batsmen, and where Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga and Dinesh Chandimal flopped badly, Sangakkara and Jayawardene came up trumps again. They came together with the score reading 20 for 3, after Chandimal had been trapped in front by an Irfan indipper, and immediately set about resurrecting the innings, and easing the tension among Sri Lankan supporters.
After nine overs only two fours had been struck, but the grip of the Indian bowlers soon loosened as Sangakkara struck a couple of gorgeous strokes, straight-driving Zaheer and then caressing a square-drive off Irfan. When he didn't find boundary-scoring opportunities, his technique and class still allowed him to cover for the swing and seam, and squeeze the ball into gaps for runs.
Jayawardene was more circumspect at the start - he scored one run off his first 12 balls. Once he got his eye in, though, the runs came quickly. When Irfan erred in line by drifting towards leg, Jayawardene flicked majestically over square leg to suggest that he was done with playing defensively. In Rahul Sharma's first over, he caressed a square-cut behind point for four, and then strode down the pitch to loft Ashok Dinda over cover. Soon, he was unfurling his whole range, going down the pitch to Rahul and slapping Zaheer past point for fours.
India had made two changes to their bowling line-up after their batting had flopped in the second ODI in Hambantota, and while Rahul Sharma and Ashok Dinda, the replacements for Umesh Yadav and Pragyan Ojha, went reasonably well, they seldom looked like breaking the partnership. The century stand duly came - the fifth for the duo against India, which puts them in second place in the all-time list.
Both batsmen looked good enough to make hundreds, but neither did. Jayawardene, playing risk-free cricket and looking completely untroubled, fell against the run of play in the 30th, trapped in front while trying to play across the line, while Sangakkara fell while trying to force the pace during the batting Powerplay. Those five overs - between the 36th and the 40th - fetched only 24 runs, but three of those overs were bowled by R Ashwin and Zaheer, which gave Sri Lanka the opportunity to capitalise on the lesser bowlers in the last ten.
India's bowling during the death has been a weakness for a while now, and Mathews and Mendis exploited that yet again. Mathews had some luck when he was caught-behind off an Irfan no-ball when on 33, but there was also plenty of smart cricket from both. Mendis, brought into the team to replace Lahiru Thirimanne, justified that selection with an enterprising knock, reverse-sweeping Ashwin and then smashing Dinda's friendly short ball over midwicket for the only six of the innings. Mathews was equally enterprising, often moving to leg and making room to spank the medium-pacers through the offside. All that frenetic activity in the last overs swelled the total to 286, which Sri Lanka should be pretty comfortable with, given that the highest total successfully chased at this ground is 271.
Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara pulled Sri Lanka out of trouble with a 121-run stand © AFP
Two high-quality century partnerships were the story of the Sri Lankan innings, as they recovered from a poor start to post an imposing 286 for 5 in Colombo. After three early wickets had gone down, Sri Lanka's two best batsmen, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, once again offered a masterclass on how to construct an ODI innings with a 121-run stand. Then, Angelo Mathews and Jeevan Mendis finished the innings to perfection with a 104-run stand for the sixth, including 97 in the last ten overs.
Since the 2011 World Cup, when the pitch at the Premadasa Stadium was relaid, teams batting second have had the upper hand, winning seven out of ten games, but Jayawardene ignored that stat when he chose to bat on what looked like a firm and true surface. That move seemed a bad one when three top-order wickets fell within the first six overs, as Zaheer Khan, the pick of the Indian bowlers, and Irfan Pathan found bounce, seam and swing.
These were conditions which tested the technique and skill of batsmen, and where Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga and Dinesh Chandimal flopped badly, Sangakkara and Jayawardene came up trumps again. They came together with the score reading 20 for 3, after Chandimal had been trapped in front by an Irfan indipper, and immediately set about resurrecting the innings, and easing the tension among Sri Lankan supporters.
After nine overs only two fours had been struck, but the grip of the Indian bowlers soon loosened as Sangakkara struck a couple of gorgeous strokes, straight-driving Zaheer and then caressing a square-drive off Irfan. When he didn't find boundary-scoring opportunities, his technique and class still allowed him to cover for the swing and seam, and squeeze the ball into gaps for runs.
Jayawardene was more circumspect at the start - he scored one run off his first 12 balls. Once he got his eye in, though, the runs came quickly. When Irfan erred in line by drifting towards leg, Jayawardene flicked majestically over square leg to suggest that he was done with playing defensively. In Rahul Sharma's first over, he caressed a square-cut behind point for four, and then strode down the pitch to loft Ashok Dinda over cover. Soon, he was unfurling his whole range, going down the pitch to Rahul and slapping Zaheer past point for fours.
India had made two changes to their bowling line-up after their batting had flopped in the second ODI in Hambantota, and while Rahul Sharma and Ashok Dinda, the replacements for Umesh Yadav and Pragyan Ojha, went reasonably well, they seldom looked like breaking the partnership. The century stand duly came - the fifth for the duo against India, which puts them in second place in the all-time list.
Both batsmen looked good enough to make hundreds, but neither did. Jayawardene, playing risk-free cricket and looking completely untroubled, fell against the run of play in the 30th, trapped in front while trying to play across the line, while Sangakkara fell while trying to force the pace during the batting Powerplay. Those five overs - between the 36th and the 40th - fetched only 24 runs, but three of those overs were bowled by R Ashwin and Zaheer, which gave Sri Lanka the opportunity to capitalise on the lesser bowlers in the last ten.
India's bowling during the death has been a weakness for a while now, and Mathews and Mendis exploited that yet again. Mathews had some luck when he was caught-behind off an Irfan no-ball when on 33, but there was also plenty of smart cricket from both. Mendis, brought into the team to replace Lahiru Thirimanne, justified that selection with an enterprising knock, reverse-sweeping Ashwin and then smashing Dinda's friendly short ball over midwicket for the only six of the innings. Mathews was equally enterprising, often moving to leg and making room to spank the medium-pacers through the offside. All that frenetic activity in the last overs swelled the total to 286, which Sri Lanka should be pretty comfortable with, given that the highest total successfully chased at this ground is 271.