Dhoni leads India to victory

MS Dhoni hits out on his way to 88 © AFP

MS Dhoni struck a fine 88 as India beat a Kurunegala Invitation XI by 93 runs ahead of the Indian Oil tri-series which starts on Saturday. Dhoni, who scored 86 against Sri Lanka A on Monday, struck six fours and two sixes during his 97-ball innings to help India to 250 in 42.2 overs. Kurunegala were then bowled out for 157 in 36.2 overs with Irfan Pathan, the left-arm seamer, bagging three wickets.

Opening the innings with Virender Sehwag after VVS Laxman's failure as opener in the previous game, Dhoni showed his utility up the order. However, the rest of the batting line-up struggled on the slow pitch - Suresh Raina (29), Yuvraj Singh (20), Sehwag (16) and Rahul Dravid (15) all got starts, but none of them went on to a more substantial score. And it wasn't quite an ideal day for some of the bowlers either - Ashish Nehra picked up two wickets, but Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble went wicketless.

For Kurunegala, Lanka de Silva (51) and Jehan Mubarak (46) were involved in a 90-run stand for the fourth wicket, but none of the other batsmen threatened to challenge the Indian score.