Sri Lanka defeated India by 6 wickets with 10 balls to spare in the 5th Match of the Micromax Tri-Series at Harare. With this defeat, India have made way for a Zimbabwe-Sri Lanka Final. After being to bat first, India stuttered atleast twice to come up with a slightly less total of 268 for 9. Sri Lanka got the runs easily with newcomer Dinesh Chandimal holding up things with a maiden ODI century.
India got off to a dull start with the new opening combination of Naman Ojha and Dinesh Karthik not clicking. The hope for a good total was provided through a third wicket stand of 84 between Virat Kohli (68 from 95 balls) and Yusuf Pathan (44 from 41 balls). India again slipped to a shaky situation again at 187 for 5 with none of the better strikers left for the final assault. That was when debutant off spinner R Ashwin came up with a brilliant 38 from 32 balls with 4 fours and a six to lift India to a not-so-bad total.
The Men in Blue needed a resounding win to have any chances of making it to the Final but were left chasing the leather because of an outstanding knock of 111 (from 118 balls with 6 fours and 5 sixes) from one drop right hander - Dinesh Chandimal who obviously was the Man of the Match. The 20-year-old toyed with the Indian spinners - often dancing down the track and lifting the ball cleanly in the air. He was well supported by Chamara Kapugedera who scored a 60-ball 42. The match was finished by an unbroken fifth wicket stand of 55 between Jeevan Mendis (35* from 35 balls) and Thilan Samaraweera (28* from 21 balls).
Toss and Teams
Tillakaratne Dilshan has won the toss and asked India to bat first in the 5th Match of the Micromax Cup at Harare. India, who have to win this match by a huge margin for a chance to qualify in the Final have made as many as three changes.Opener Murali Vijay has been dropped to give debut to Wicket Keeper cum dashing batsman - Naman Ojha while Pankaj Singh and R Ashwin have taken the places of Umesh Yadav and Amit Mishra. All the three - Naman Ojha, Ashwin and Pankaj Singh are making their ODI Debut today. Sri Lanka on the other hand have made two changes - Thilan Samaraweera and Thilan Thushara coming in for Chamara Silva and Dilhara Fernando.
