Jayawardena guides Sri Lanka to victory in final

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DHAKA - Sri Lanka survived some tense moments before Mahela Jayawardene guided them to victory against India in the final of the tri-nation series tournament here Wednesday.

Chasing a victory target of 246 runs, Sri Lanka fumbled after a good start but then recovered through Jayawerdene’s unbeaten 71 to reach home in 48.3 overs with four wickets in hand.

After being put to bat, India got off to a disastrous start losing five wickets for 60 runs before Suresh Raina’s (106) fighting century pulled them through.

Sri Lanka lost Upul Tharanga in the first over, dismissed by Ashish Nehra, who limped off the ground in his second over with an injury.

Tillakaratne Dilshan (49) and skipper Kumar Sangakkara (55) added 93 runs before Indian spinners triggered a mini collapse.

Harbhajan Singh (2-41), Yuvraj (1-41) and Ravindra Jadeja (1-29) chipped in with wickets at regular interval. Jayawardene, however, held the fort at one end and forged parterships with Thilan Samaraweera (27), Thilina Kandamby (18) and Suraj Randiv (17) to cross the target.

Jayawardene played patiently, hitting five fours in his 81-ball knock.

Earlier, Sri Lankan pacers Nuwan Kulasekara (4-48) and Chanaka Welegedara (3-53) reduced India to a precarious 60 for five before Raina (106) and Ravindra Jadeja (38) added 106 runs to bail them out at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Mirpur.

After Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to field, the new-ball bowlers Kulasekara and Welegedara gave his team the perfect start by destroying India’s top order.

Kulasekara removed Gautam Gambhir for a second-ball duck in his first over with a delivery that pitched just outside the leg stump and hit the stumps.

Welegedara then removed Virat Kohli (2) and Yuvraj Singh in successive overs, both falling to poor shot selection. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (14) did not last long and India were soon in a deep trouble.

Sehwag (42) was the lone batsman to offer some resistance, hitting Kulasekara for three fours in four deliveries early in his innings.

He was dismissed while attempting to guide a rising delivery from Kulasekara to third man, that went straight to Sangakkara.

Raina and Jadeja then started to rebuilt the innings, taking runs through singles and twos and cutting down on extravagant strokes.

The pair was removed when Tillakaratne Dilshan trapped Jadeja in front.

Raina scored his third ODI century, smashing 10 fours and one six in his 115-ball stay.

Kulasekara and Welegedara joined forces in the slog overs to trigger another collapse.