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Sri Lanka vs India, 3rd ODI at Colombo, , Aug 24 2008 - Ball by Ball Commentary

RESULT
3rd ODI (D/N), Colombo (RPS), August 24, 2008, India tour of Sri Lanka
237/9
(49/50 ov, T:238) 204

India won by 33 runs

Player Of The Match
76 (80) & 2 catches
ms-dhoni
New
SL
Full commentary
end of over 493 runs • 1 wicket
SL: 204/10CRR: 4.16 RRR: 34.00
Ajantha Mendis6 (10b)
Munaf Patel 10-1-42-3
Zaheer Khan 10-3-23-3

10.20 pm: Sri Lanka fought hard to reach 204 after they were reduced to 94 for 7 primarily due to Jayawardene's splendid 94. However, they were always chasing the game after a horrendous start and India completed a hard-fought victory to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

India went into the match with their batting order under pressure and they left out a bowler - Irfan Pathan - for the extra batsman. They were under pressure again after losing three wickets to the fast bowlers but half-centuries from Raina and Dhoni helped them achieve a competitive total.

India needed to get ten overs out of their part-time bowling options but the new-ball attack did not allow Sri Lanka to exploit that weakness. Zaheer bowled another outstanding spell with the new ball and was well supported by Praveen and Munaf. They struck at frequent intervals and crippled the run-chase. The victory was more comprehensive than the margin of 33 runs indicates.

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"We played quite a good game, made a couple of mistakes up front while we were batting and that's where we lost the game. It was spinning a bit but the wicket played really well. If we kept wickets, we could have chased the target, says Jayawardene. "India batted really well, we thought we could have kept then under 200 at one stage. their fast bowlers bowled well up front once again."

Dhoni collects the winners cheque and goes up to have a word with Tony Greig. "It was a good track to bat on and it did a bit more in the evening than it did in the afternoon," says Dhoni. "We were playing an extra batsman so I think we were 15-20 runs short."

Dhoni is also the Man of the Match for his 76 that was so crucial in posting the winning total of 237.

The next game is on August 26 and it's another day-night affair at the Premadasa. We'll be back with our coverage for that game at around 1.45 pm. That's about it from us at Cricinfo today. Thank you for all your emails, this is George Binoy signing off and going to salvage what's left of Sunday evening!

48.6
W
Patel to Murali, OUT

that's the end of the game! Munaf bowls it full and straight, Murali clears his front foot out of the way and swings across the line, he misses and Munaf hits middle stump

Muthiah Muralidaran b Patel 6 (14b 0x4 0x6 13m) SR: 42.85
48.5
Patel to Murali, no run

full ball outside off stump, Murali gets beaten

48.4
Patel to Murali, no run

Murali tries to hit a length ball down the ground but mis-times it towards Munaf to stretches out his right hand and fields

48.3
Patel to Murali, no run

the slower ball outside off stump, Murali swings and misses

48.2
2
Patel to Murali, 2 runs

that might be the end of the game, oh no it isn't! Murali slogs the ball down the ground towards mid-on, Kohli runs in and dives but doesn't quite reach the catch

48.1
1
Patel to Mendis, 1 run

Mendis backs away and throws his bat at the ball, he slices it towards third man

Sri Lanka need 37 off the final two overs.

end of over 482 runs
SL: 201/9CRR: 4.18 RRR: 18.50
Ajantha Mendis5 (9b)
Muthiah Muralidaran4 (9b)
Zaheer Khan 10-3-23-3
Praveen Kumar 10-0-62-2
47.6
1
Khan to Mendis, 1 run

Mendis slogs at a full ball, trying to hit it through the leg side, he gets an inside edge that runs towards fine leg

47.5
1
Khan to Murali, 1 run

Zaheer fires the ball into the block hole and Murali digs it out on the off side and sprints for the single, Sri Lanka reach 200

47.4
Khan to Murali, no run

banged in short by Zaheer and Murali tries to play some sort of a hook, he misses again

47.3
Khan to Murali, no run

defended on the back foot towards the leg side

47.2
Khan to Murali, no run

Murali connects with the pull this time but does not time it will

47.1
Khan to Murali, no run

full ball outside off stump, Murali clears his from foot out of the way and unleashes a haymaker at the ball, he doesn't connect

end of over 475 runs
SL: 199/9CRR: 4.23 RRR: 13.00
Ajantha Mendis4 (8b)
Muthiah Muralidaran3 (4b)
Praveen Kumar 10-0-62-2
Munaf Patel 9-1-39-2
46.6
Praveen to Mendis, no run

Mendis moves across his stumps and tries to pull a short ball towards fine leg, he misses and the ball goes over his stumps

46.5
1
Praveen to Murali, 1 run

Murali reaches out for a full ball and drives through the off side

46.4
Praveen to Murali, no run

Murali swings wildly at a length ball and gets a bottom edge that goes towards Dhoni

46.3
1
Praveen to Mendis, 1 run

the slower ball outside off stump and Mendis manages to hit it through midwicket for another single

46.2
2
Praveen to Mendis, 2 runs

driven through the infield at cover point, the fielder in the deep is Munaf and he's slow to get to the ball

46.1
1
Praveen to Murali, 1 run

good length ball on middle stump, nudged off the back foot towards midwicket

end of over 4610 runs • 1 wicket
SL: 194/9CRR: 4.21 RRR: 11.00
Muthiah Muralidaran1 (1b)
Ajantha Mendis1 (5b)
Munaf Patel 9-1-39-2
Praveen Kumar 9-0-57-2
45.6
1
Patel to Murali, 1 run

driven towards extra cover for a single

45.5
1
Patel to Mendis, 1 run

full toss on off stump, played towards cover point for a single

Murali is the last man.

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