India vs Sri Lanka, 4th ODI at Kolkata, Dec 24 2009 - Ball by Ball Commentary

A rather facile win in the end owing to a magnificent 224-run stand between Gambhir and Kohli. It really took the game away from Sri Lanka after Sehwag and Tendulkar went. Kohli raised his first ton, Gambhir his seventh. And he stayed on to finish the deal, smartly. He gets to his second score of 150 against Sri Lanka. The visitors scored 315 but that wasn't enough. India seal the series 3-1 with one to play.

Stick around for the post-match stuff.

Meanwhile, an email from Sandip: "Positives for Lanka in this series is Welgedhera's left arm bowling, Tharanga's form at the top (why was he not picked for the Test series??), Sangakkara coming back into form. On the Down side, Malinga - is he fully fit or is it a case of batsmen getting used to his unique bowling - like Mendia. Also Jaywardene failed in the ODIs. Verdict is still out on Randiv, Lakmal, Thissera - as it is early days yet, but liked what I saw of them."

Ravi Shastri speaks to Sangakkara first: "We started out really well, with Upul Tharanga batting really well and the rest batting around him. Lakmal and Randiv bowled well but there wasn't enough back-up. The fast bowlers should have been more disciplined. Gautam and Kohli batted quite brilliantly. We had so many debutants on our tour and some of them have really stepped up and that promises better things on future tours. This is the most competitive we have been in the one-day arena since I debuted."

Now its over to Sehwag: "We were going to bowl first because of the dew in Eden Gardens. The spinners did well. Myself and Sachin Tendulkar got out early but Gauti and Virat batted very well. Kohli has done well. He got fifties in the Champions Trophy and against Sri Lanka and we are very proud of him. Credit for getting Dilshan out early goes to Sachin Tendulkar who told me to keep bowling on his legs."

Gambhir is the Man of the Match for his 150, but he says he cannot receive it and hands it over to Kohli. That is touching. Gambhir speaks to Shastri: "We knew the dew would be a big factor, even when last played here Graeme Smith got a hundred and it was hard for the bowlers. We lost two wickets but he had someone who could play positively and score quickly and that allowed me to keep going. The way Virat batted took a lot of pressure off my shoulders and we told ourselves to see what was happening after 35 overs, but then we didn't need to take the Powerplay. I've been pretty unfortunate in the last two innings but I am happy play a good knock to help us win the series. And its been fantastic to get a hundred in Eden Gardens."

So that is it from us at Cricinfo. Thanks for tuning in again. On behalf of Kanishkaa, Raghav and Sanjay this is Jamie Alter signing off. We'll be back for the final game on December 27. From all of us at Cricinfo, have a very merry Christmas. Bye for now!

Just three to win it. A four will also get Gambhir to 150.

That is 3000 runs for Gambhir, congrats.