Sri Lanka vs India, 5th ODI at Kandy, Aug 04 2012 - Ball by Ball Commentary

India take the series 4-1 and go up to No.2 in the ICC ODI rankings. A good series for the visitors. There's a T20 game left but barring an indifferent performance in the second ODI, India have chased well and now, defended a score. Good performance from Jeevan Mendis and Lahiru Thirimanne; they gave India a scare and there was a point when Sri Lanka had edged ahead but India hit back. So, a comprehensive series win for India, we'll get you the presentation details in a bit.

Irfan Pathan is the Man of the Match for his all-round performance: "God's grace. Was bowling well throughout the series. Had too many bad deliveries today but got five wickets. The batting gave me a lot of confidence, it came at the right time, in Premadasa and here. The ball does swing with the humid conditions, and with the two new balls it does help swing the ball. It's a great feeling."

There is a Player of the Series award from one sponsor and a Man of the Series award from another. Virat Kohli is Man of the Series; he gets a car. Gambhir wins a bike.

Angelo Mathews: "Encouraging to see Thirimanne and Mendis taking on the challenge. Unfortunately we fell short by 20 runs, we gave away some runs on the field. The Indians have a very good batting line-up. But we did too many mistakes on specific days and that was the result of our downfall. Mendis works really hard and is a wonderful asset for us. We've got the SLPL before the World T20."

Dhoni: "This was a very good wicket to bat on. Gautam batted well, we had a very good platform. The last 10 overs we had to get a fair amount of runs, we knew it will get a bit easy to bat on in the second half. Most of the Sri Lankan fields are quite big, if it's not needed it is advisable to not go for the big shots. This outfield was quick and we could use the pace of the bowler. If one of me and Irfan got out, we may not have got to that score. So we played safe for a while. We still need to improve, not only in the bowling but also the batting. The guy who was set usually carried it forward but it's important that we dictate the bowling and score 15 runs more than the par score. If we are playing with part-time bowlers, we need to those 10 to 15 runs. The [limping] is not a major concern, it's not a big injury. Hopefully I'll play the next game."

Some medals to be given out to the team members now. But, for our purposes, the presentation ceremony is over. That's all from here, folks. Many thanks for tuning in and sending us your feedback. Do join us again for the Twenty20 game on August 7. Two other games happening: Kevin Pietersen is going strong against South Africa in Headingley. There's a cracker of a Test happening in Jamaica between West Indies and New Zealand. Check it out here. Thanks again, see ya.

Two extra covers in place

Pradeep is the last man

Rash shot from Senanayake when he seemed to be going alright. Just one wicket away from 4-1 are India. Irfan collects his second ODI five-for, marking a more than satisfactory comeback

Irfan goes round the wicket

Rahul is in for Gautam Gambhir

Malinga is the new man

Zaheer comes round the wicket, has a slip

Is that the decisive blow? Still less than six an over needed. Excellent performance from Mendis, he turned the game around with Thirimanne but India have hit back