Thaindian News

Adelaide, Feb 14 (IANS) Sri Lanka lost their way in the middle overs to settle for 236 for nine in the fifth match of the Tri-series against India here Tuesday.

Sri Lanka looked set for a 250-plus score before they lost three wickets for 18 runs in the third Powerplay to find themselves struggling at 184 for six from a promising 168 for three in 35 overs.

Dinesh Chandimal was the stand-out batsman, scoring a fluent 81 while skipper Mahela Jayawardene made 43. India pacer R. Vinay Kumar took three wickets and offie Ravichandran Ashwin picked up two.

Sri Lanka were off to a bad start after opting to bat on a flat Adelaide Oval track, losing openers Upul Tharanga (0) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (16) inside eight overs.

Vinay Kumar once again impressed with the new ball, sending Tharanga back with a beauty that did enough to take the edge straight into Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s gloves. Irfan Pathan (1/38), playing his first match of the series, got rid of Dilshan, who nicked one to Dhoni while slashing it hard.

Chandimal then forged a 51-run partnership with Kumar Sangakkara (31) and a quickfire 94-run stand with Jayawardene to lay the foundation of a big score.

But once Jayawardene departed to make it 173 for four, Sri Lanka kept on losing wicket at regular intervals and three run-outs in the innings only worsened the situation.

Chandimal was one of them to get run out after scoring his second fifty in three matches, making him the leading scorer of the series with 182 runs. He struck four boundaries and a six in his 91-ball effort.