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