INDIA v SRI LANKA 1990-91

At Margao, December 8. Sri Lanka won by seven wickets. Toss: India. The home team paid the penalty for their decision, based on the premise that the pitch would deteriorate, to bat first. The ball tended to leap, especially from the spinners, but there were not as many devils in the pitch as the Indian batsmen suggested in their higgledy-piggledy innings. Ramanayake bowled a tight line at medium pace to pick up the first three wickets, and Anurasiri and Warnaweera, with contrasting spin, sent the others sliding to a poor total of 136, with nearly ten overs unused.

India's hopes of making a fight of it, when Sri Lanka's openers went cheaply, were dispelled by De Silva, who waited for the loose ball to drive, cut or pull. His captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, was the ideal foil, and their unbroken stand of 82 made a telling contrast with the Indians' surrender to their apprehensions about the pitch. De Silva struck eleven fours and scored 63 in 76 balls, steering his team to Sri Lanka's second one-day international victory in India.

Man of the Match: P. A. De Silva.