India vs Srilanka (14 Feb, 2012) : Match Ties

India and Sri Lanka played their first-ever tie in a One-day International when both teams ended at 236 for nine in a nail-biting finish here Tuesday in the fifth match of the ODI tri-series underway in Australia.

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Needing four off the last ball of the 50th over for a win, ‘Captain Cool’ Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit Lasith Malinga (2/53) over extra-cover and ran three to share the points in a dramatic end at the Adelaide Oval.

Earlier, Gautam Gambhir once again led India’s chase, hitting a sublime 91 for his second fifty in a row. Dinesh Chandimal’s 81 had helped Sri Lanka reach 236 for nine after Mahela Jayawardene decided to bat on a flat track.

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Like Sunday’s game against Australia, India made heavy weather of their chase after being in a comfortable position, needing 59 runs off the last 60 balls with six wickets in hand. But Gambhir’s run out following a mix-up with Dhoni slowed the run-rate and the fall of Ravindra Jadeja brought Sri Lanka back in the game, leaving India at 184 for six.

Ravichandran Ashwin (14) joined Dhoni with the team needing 53 off 39 balls. They broke the shackles in the 46th over thanks to Dhoni’s trademark straight six off Thissara Perera and Ashwin smashing a boundary over extra cover. India now needed 33 off 24.

Malinga’s pace and accuracy made runs hard to come by at the other end as his last two overs yielded only 12 runs, including eight from the final over.

Apart from Gambhir and Dhoni, none of the top-order batsmen could get going after getting in, though they all had useful partnerships with the opener.

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Gambhir’s second consecutive 90-plus knock also made him the leading run-getter in the series with 188 runs.

The match also saw three run-outs in each innings and a five-ball 30th over bowled by Malinga complicated matters.

Earlier, 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.

Chandimal stood out, scoring a fluent 81, while Jayawardene made 43. Indian pacer Vinay Kumar took three wickets and offie Ravichandran Ashwin two.

Sri Lanka were off to a bad start, 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 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 wickets at regular intervals and three run-outs in the innings only worsened the situation for the islanders.

Chandimal was one of them to get run out after scoring his second fifty in three matches. He struck four boundaries and a six in his 91-ball effort.

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