that's it, its all over! Slightly short of a length on the off stump, Dilhara makes to slog that into the stands, misses it completely and the stumps take a beating!
Sri Lanka vs India, 4th ODI at Colombo, Feb 05 2009 - Ball by Ball Commentary
RESULT
4th ODI (D/N), Colombo (RPS), February 05, 2009, India tour of Sri Lanka
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SL
Full commentary
end of over 485 runs • 1 wicket
SL: 265/10CRR: 5.52 • RRR: 34.00
Nuwan Kulasekara39 (22b 4x4 2x6)
Praveen Kumar 9-0-38-2
Ishant Sharma 5-0-39-0
India have won convincingly here. Sri Lanka started off well in the run chase and even when Sangakkara and Jayawardene were batting in the initial few overs, it seemed as though their team was still in the hunt. However, there was an unexpected interruption, and what followed was a fairly dull affair. Both the batsmen struggled to force the pace after the break, struggled against Ojha and Sehwag - Sri Lanka failed to score a boundary in 21 overs - and there was an air of inevitability surrounding their eventual downfall. Irfan Pathan had a satisfactory comeback, taking three wickets, albeit proving a little costly. Kulasekara provided some mild entertainment towards the end, but Sri Lanka never looked like they were going to win during their sudden change of gears in the middle passage.
Their only highlight of the day was Murali's record, but the fact that it has taken him four matches to take the three wickets he needed at the start of the series to overtake Wasim Akram is an indication of how well India's batsmen have handled him. India have now won nine consecutive games - their best winning streak in ODIs - and Sri Lanka have one more match to salvage something out of what's been a distressing series.
Murali is being felicitated at the presentation ceremony for his record. Well, not really, but there are some fireworks in the background.
Mahela: "330 was always going to be a tough target, and we failed to strike the right balance in the middle overs. Unfortunately we didn;t get to bowl under lights, and our spinners would have had some purchase then, but India's spinners bowled really well."
Dhoni: "I'm happy about the ninth win, and we are enjoying our success. I haven't batted at 3 in a long time, and was looking to do that today as the series had already been decided."
Gautam Gambhir is the Man of the Match.
Gambhir: "This was the perfect platform for me to perform well and play a long innings. There was an element of pressure, but there always is when you are playing for India. Credit to my captain and coach, they've supported me very well throughout my success in 2008 and hopefully 2009 will yield similar results."
Well, thats it from all of us at Cricinfo. Do join us for the live coverage of the fifth ODI on the 8th. Thanks for all your feedback and we'll see you in a couple of days. Until then, it's adios from Siddhartha Talya on the commentary and Sanjay Murari from the scoring desk.
47.6
W
Praveen to Fernando, OUT
Dilhara Fernando b Kumar 9 (14b 1x4 0x6 21m) SR: 64.28
47.5
•
Praveen to Fernando, no run
good length just fractionally down leg stump, Dilhara makes room to heave it into the leg side, misses
47.4
•
Praveen to Fernando, no run
full on middle, driven straight to midwicket
47.3
1
Praveen to Kulasekara, 1 run
short of a length outside off, punched off the back foot to deep cover
47.2
•
Praveen to Kulasekara, no run
slower ball that he failed to pick, landed short of a length outside off and cut away, tried to slog that over midwicket, but was into the shot too early
47.1
4
Praveen to Kulasekara, FOUR runs
full on middle and leg, heaved over midwicket for a boundary. This is now Kulasekara's highest ODI score
Shamil: "The only hope for SL is for some honesty at the press conference. If Mahela says something like the following I'll be cheered up "We were rubbish. I thought it was just problems with the batting, but now even the bowling is not that good. To be the first captain to face a 5-0 whitewash, that too at home will be the lowest point in my career. We have talent but we're just rubbish at applying it. Let's hope this is rock bottom and the only way is up." "
Praveen Kumar into the attack now
end of over 4710 runs
SL: 260/9CRR: 5.53 • RRR: 24.33
Dilhara Fernando9 (11b 1x4)
Nuwan Kulasekara34 (19b 3x4 2x6)
Ishant Sharma 5-0-39-0
Yuvraj Singh 5-0-37-1
46.6
2
Ishant Sharma to Fernando, 2 runs
short of a length outside off, cut away wide of point for a well run two
46.5
4
Ishant Sharma to Fernando, FOUR runs
full on the pads, tries to drive that to midwicket, gets a thick inside edge and the ball rolls down the fine-leg boundary
46.4
1
Ishant Sharma to Kulasekara, 1 run
short on middle, dropped onto the off side off the back foot for a single
46.3
2
Ishant Sharma to Kulasekara, 2 runs
fielded superbly at third man, made room to cart that over the covers, gets a thick outside edge that falls just short of substitute Ravindra Jadeja who divesto his left to prevent a certain four
46.2
1
Ishant Sharma to Fernando, 1 run
yorker on middle and leg, dug out on the off side, they scamper for a single, though Raina scores a direct hit at the strikers end
46.1
•
Ishant Sharma to Fernando, no run
good length on middle and off, pushed to mid-on
end of over 4618 runs
SL: 250/9CRR: 5.43 • RRR: 20.75
Nuwan Kulasekara31 (17b 3x4 2x6)
Dilhara Fernando2 (7b)
Yuvraj Singh 5-0-37-1
Irfan Pathan 7-0-58-3
45.6
2
Yuvraj to Kulasekara, 2 runs
tossed up on middle and leg, flicks it away in front of square for a couple
45.5
•
Yuvraj to Kulasekara, no run
on middle and off, defended watchfully on the off side
45.4
6
Yuvraj to Kulasekara, SIX runs
superb shot, he wasn't to the pitch there but went for it anyway, good length outside off, he stays rooted to his crease and lofts it cleanly over the long-off for boundary. Beautifully timed
45.3
4
Yuvraj to Kulasekara, FOUR runs
short and wide, this time he rocks on the back foot and cuts it away fiercely wide of point for a boundary
45.2
•
Yuvraj to Kulasekara, no run
turned away sharply, landed on a good length outside off, beat Kulasekara who came forward to defend
45.1
6
Yuvraj to Kulasekara, SIX runs
Kulasekara is providing some much needed entertainment here, flighted on middle and off, he charges down the track and lofts it over long-off for a big one
end of over 459 runs
SL: 232/9CRR: 5.15 • RRR: 20.20
Dilhara Fernando2 (7b)
Nuwan Kulasekara13 (11b 2x4)
Irfan Pathan 7-0-58-3
Yuvraj Singh 4-0-19-1
44.6
•
Pathan to Fernando, no run
full on the off stump, driven straight to Raina at mid-off
44.5
•
Pathan to Fernando, no run
bouncer banged in short on middle, had the batsman in a spot of bother there, but there's no harm done
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