Samaraweera ton guides Sri Lanka to beat India

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DHAKA - Thilan Samaraweera struck his second One-day International century as Sri Lanka won the second match of the tri-nation series against India by five wickets at the Sher-e- Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur here Tuesday.

Samaraweera scored an unbeaten on 105 as Sri Lanka made 283 for five in 48 overs in reply to India’s 279 for nine from 50 overs.

Sri Lanka were well on track for their second consecutive win in two days as skipper Kumar Sangakkara (60) and Samaraweera added 122 for the third wicket.

But Sangakkara’s dismissal in his attempt to drive off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (3-47), triggered a mini collapse as Sri Lanka collapsed from 199-2 to 226-5 in the 44th over. But Thissara Perera, playing his third ODI, thrashed 36 off 15 balls to seal the win.

Sri Lanka are now top of the group table having also beaten hosts Bangladesh in the previous day’s tournament opener.

Earlier, Yuvraj Singh struck a flamboyant 74 as India made 279 for nine in 50 overs.

Virender Sehwag (47), Ravindra Jadeja (39), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (37) and Suresh Raina (35) came up with decent cameos after Sangakkara opted to field. For Sri Lanka, left-arm seamer Chanaka Welegedara was the most successful bowler with five for 66 while Thilan Tushara and Thisara Pereira picked up two wickets each.

Sehwag was on a song right from the start, plundering runs off Welegedara and Suranga Lakmal.

Sehwag was especially severe on Lakmal, hitting the right-arm fast bowler for three fours in the sixth over as 50 runs came up in the next over.

Having accounted for Gautam Gambhir (8) and Virat Kohli (9), Welegedara struck in the ninth over to get rid off Sehwag, who gave an easy catch to Lahiru Thirimanne at mid-off.

With India tottering at 71/3, Yuvraj and Dhoni stabilised the innings with their 99-run stand. Dhoni played a cautious innings while Yuvraj went for the big hits. Dhoni hit just three fours in his 70-ball knock and was caught behind by Kumar Sangakkara off Thisara Perera.

Yuvraj, who made his comeback after recovering from a finger fracture, smashed two sixes and six fours in his 84-ball stay as India got to a competitive total.