Sri Lanka beat India to lift tri-nation trophy  

Mirpur: Indian top guns came a cropper when it mattered most as Sri Lanka spanked them by four wickets in a low-scoring final to lift the cricket tri-series here tonight.
The summit clash demanded a special performance by the Indians who aspire to be the number one ODI team in the world but all they managed was 245 before folding in 48.2 overs, denying their bowling colleagues enough runs to defend.
Things could have been embarrassing for them but for the 106-run stand between Suresh Raina (106) and Ravindra Jadeja (38) and a characteristically brisk 27-ball 42 by Virender Sehwag upfront.
Chasing the target, Sri Lanka fumbled occasionally before eventually cruising to 249 for six in 48.3 overs. For them, Tillakaratne Dilshan (49) and Kumar Sangakkara (55) set the tone and Mahela Jayawardene (71 not out) completed the job. Not that the Sri Lankan chase was a hiccup-free affair.
Ashish Nehra had the scoreless Upul Tharanga caught in the slip by Virat Kohli off his third delivery and Sri Lanka were yet to open their account at that stage.
Sangakkara is not new to such situation and the Lankan captain, in Dilshan's company, added 92 runs to put the chase back on track at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium. Dhoni pressed in service Yuvraj Singh and then collaborated with him to remove the dangerous Dilshan off the left-arm spinner's first delivery.
Earlier, Sri Lankan pacers wrecked the Indian batting before Suresh Raina's fighting century saw the visitors finish at 245.
Nuwan Kulasekara (4-48) and Chanaka Welegedara (3-53) reduced India to a precarious 60 for five before Raina (106) and Ravindra Jadeja (38) added 106 runs to bail them out at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Mirpur.
After Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to field, the new-ball bowlers Kulasekara and Welegedara gave his team the perfect start by destroying India's top order.
Kulasekara removed Gautam Gambhir for a second-ball duck in his first over with a delivery that pitched just outside the leg stump and hit the stumps.
Welegedara then removed Virat Kohli (2) and Yuvraj Singh in successive overs, both falling to poor shot selection. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (14) did not last long and India were soon in a deep trouble.
Sehwag (42) was the lone batsman to offer some resistance, hitting Kulasekara for three fours in four deliveries early in his innings. He was dismissed while attempting to guide a rising delivery from Kulasekara to third man, that went straight to Sangakkara.
Raina and Jadeja then started to rebuilt the innings, taking runs through singles and twos and cutting down on extravagant strokes. The pair was removed when Tillakaratne Dilshan trapped Jadeja in front.
Raina scored his third ODI century, smashing 10 fours and one six in his 115-ball stay. Kulasekara and Welegedara joined forces in the slog overs to trigger another collapse.

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