After their bowlers had done a great job in restrict the opposition, India were cruising at 157 for 3, needing another 77 runs with both Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina looking good. However, suddenly, the batsmen lost their way slipping to 181 for 6 before Ashwin (30 not out) and Jadeja (24 not out) put up a fighting 53-run stand for the seventh wicket to steer the side home. Ashwin, who also took 3 for 32, was named the Man-of-the-Match. Sachin Tendulkar played some pleasing shots in scoring 48 (63 balls, 5x4) before he drag a ball from Angelo Matthews onto his stumps.
Virat Kohli (77; 94b, 8x4,1x6) batted with a lot of confidence and looked in complete command of the situation. However, towards the final stages of his innings, he was hobbling on one leg due to cramps. He still had sufficient strength to smash pacer Dhammika Prasad for a straight six, but he went for a tight single off the last ball to retain strike and that proved to be his undoing as Lasith Malinga threw down the stumps from mid-on.
Earlier, the Indian bowlers redeemed themselves on a WACA pitch that offered them decent bounce. Zaheer Khan made the batsmen dance to his tunes bowling a tight line and moving the ball both ways. The left-arm pacer made early inroads into Sri Lanka's batting before R Ashwin sliced through the middle-order. Together, both Zaheer (2-44) and Ashwin (3-32) cleaned up the top half of the Sri Lankan batting with their combined figures reading 20-2-76-5.
Virat Kohli (77; 94b, 8x4,1x6) batted with a lot of confidence and looked in complete command of the situation. However, towards the final stages of his innings, he was hobbling on one leg due to cramps. He still had sufficient strength to smash pacer Dhammika Prasad for a straight six, but he went for a tight single off the last ball to retain strike and that proved to be his undoing as Lasith Malinga threw down the stumps from mid-on.
Earlier, the Indian bowlers redeemed themselves on a WACA pitch that offered them decent bounce. Zaheer Khan made the batsmen dance to his tunes bowling a tight line and moving the ball both ways. The left-arm pacer made early inroads into Sri Lanka's batting before R Ashwin sliced through the middle-order. Together, both Zaheer (2-44) and Ashwin (3-32) cleaned up the top half of the Sri Lankan batting with their combined figures reading 20-2-76-5.
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