India win thriller against Sri Lanka

The enigmatic Yuvraj Singh finally returned to form to lead India to a thrilling and crucial two-wicket win over Sri Lanka in their vital tri-series match here Tuesday. The left-hander burst out of his tour-long slump to make a polished 76 as the Indians successfully chased down Sri Lanka's 238 for six with five balls to spare, making 239 for eight.
With captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni again holding the chase together late in the innings with an unbeaten 50, the win strengthened India's grip on second spot on the tri-series ladder headed by Australia. The four points they gained for the win moved them to 12 points, six ahead of Sri Lanka, who have a game in hand. Dhoni paid tribute to Yuvraj. "Credit goes to Yuvraj, he was one of the batsmen we wanted to come back to form," he said.
"He dominated the innings and was excellent. "It is good to see him score." Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene was pleased with how his side fought the match out, but thought they came up a touch short with their batting. Yuvraj had struggled for form since arriving in Australia, but from the moment he hit a boundary from his second ball his confidence was back.
He played some crisp drives and powerful pulls, belting the part-time spin of Sanath Jayasuriya into the stands. He had faced 70 balls, hitting 10 fours and the one six and rescued his side after they slipped to 35 for three early in the chase.
Earlier, the class of Kumar Sangakkara once again revived Sri Lanka after a dismal start with the bat. The Sri Lankan cause wasn't helped by three run-outs, two dreadfully unlucky, but Sangakkara's polished 128 earned him man-of-the-match honours and helped them recover from a disastrous six for two.
SCOREBAORD:
SRI LANKA:

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T. Dilshan c Dhoni b Patel                 4
S. Jayasuriya run out                      0
K. Sangakkara c Kumar b Pathan           128
M. Jayawardene run out                    71
C. Kapugedera run out                      1
C. Silva c Uthappa b H. Singh             21
F. Maharoof not out                        3
C. Vaas not out                            1
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Extras: (4lb, 1nb, 4w)                     9
Total: (for six wickets)                 238
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Fall: 4 (Dilshan), 6 (Jayasuriya), 159 (Jayawardene), 161 (Kapugedera), 234 (Sangakkara), 235 (Silva).
Bowling: Patel 9-2-38-1 (1w), I. Sharma 10-0-44-0, Pathan 10-0-44-1 (2w), Kumar 10-0-49-0 (1nb), H. Singh 10-0-54-1, Y. Singh 1-0-5-0 (1w).
Overs: 50
INDIA:

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G. Gambhir c Sangakkara b Amerasinghe     15

S. Tendulkar b Malinga                     0

R. Uthappa run out                        10

R. Sharma c Silva b Muralitharan          24

Y. Singh b Vaas                           76

M.S. Dhoni not out                        50

I. Pathan b Amerasinghe                   31

P. Kumar c Jayawardene b Amerasinghe       6

H. Singh lbw Malinga                       3

I. Sharma not out                          0

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Extras: (14lb, 10w)                       24

Total: (for eight wickets)               239

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Fall: 2 (Tendulkar), 33 (Uthappa), 35 (Gambhir), 99 (Sharma), 158 (Y. Singh), 216 (Pathan), 229 (Kumar), 236 (H. Singh).
Bowling: Vaas 10-0-27-1, Malinga 10-0-37-2 (6w) Amerasinghe 10-0-49-3 (1w), Maharoof 6.1-0-43-0 (2w), Muralitharan 10-0-44-1 (1w), Jayasuriya 2-0-14-0, Dilshan 1-0-11-0.
Overs: 49.1
Result: India won by two wickets
Points: India 4, Sri Lanka 0
Toss: Sri Lanka
Umpires: Tony Hill (NZL), Peter Parker (AUS)
TV umpire: Bob Parry (AUS)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL).
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008