Sri Lanka vs India, 3rd ODI at Colombo, , Jul 28 2012 - Match Result

India up 2-1 in the five-match series. Gambhir looked in terrific touch today, Kohli less so and Dhoni wasn't at his best either but the two of them put on important stands with Gambhir, when India looked on course for victory. But, as he has so many times, Malinga produced some magic deliveries to send back MSD and Rohit, and put Sri Lanka in charge. A direct hit then dismissed Gambir, and India looked headed for defeat. They had some bits of luck though, with a few edged boundaries providing the early momentum for Raina and Irfan - Raina was dropped once as well, and a run-out chance was missed - before the two batsmen took charge. Raina had been piling on the runs at the end of the innings in recent ODIs, but usually when India were looking to set a target. This time, he was around to shepherd the chase, taking India home with an unbeaten 65 off 45. Irfan is in the team as a bowling allrounder, and has proved effective so far in the series, making a crucial unbeaten 34.

At long last, the presentation ceremony
.

Suresh Raina is the Man of the Match. "I learnt over the years, how to bat when you need 8 an over, Gautam played very well early on, set the platform. I looked to play straight, not to play cross, I knew I could hit over cover, over midwicket, I also wanted to run hard. Credit goes to Gautam, he batted very well."

Mahela Jayawardene: "It was one of those days. They are a quality team, I thought we played a good game, just a few mistakes. Up front, we were not putting enough pressure in the chase. We bowled poorly (towards the end) and dropped Suresh as well. It's tough when you lose, but you try and re-focus for the next game. Sanga will get a good deserved break (smiles)."

Dhoni: "We had a chance, because Gautam was still batting, and we all had belief in Raina, we also had Irfan and Ashwin. I think those two wickets changed the game, Gautam did really well, we needed one of the top three to put in a performance like this. We need to improve our death bowling, and our fielding, but overall I was happy with our performance."

S Rajesh, our stats editor, has done a match report after several years. See how he fared here.

Thanks for all the mails today, and you all need to go a little easy on Rohit. See you in the fourth ODI.

Mathews to bowl the final over. He hits sixes when needed in the final over, can he stop giving away six now?

Malinga's last ball coming up

In the midst of all the Rohit v Tiwary talk, Raina's recent ODI form has gone un-noticed. Three half-centuries in five innings, and regularly providing India the momentum at the end of the innings in the recent past

Praveen: "c'mon guys give rohit a break! Literally or figuratively?;)" Hah!