NAGPUR, India, (Reuters) – Tillakaratne Dilshan struck his second successive century to lead Sri Lanka to a three-wicket victory over India in a thrilling second one-day international yesterday.
Man-of-the-match Dilshan hit 123 off 113 balls and put on 102 for the first wicket with Upul Tharanga (37) as Sri Lanka chased down 302 for victory with five balls to spare to level the series.
“All credit to Dilshan, he’s batting out of his skin and he is batting without any rush and without any effort,” Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara said.
Explosive Dilshan, who smashed a career-best 160 in the first match when the tourists fell three runs short of pulling off the second highest ODI run chase ever, was dismissed with his team needing 89 off 85 deliveries.
Left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan claimed the wickets of former captain Mahela Jayawardene (39), Thilana Kandamby (27) and Chamara Kapugedera (2) to put the pressure on Sri Lanka.
All-rounder Angelo Mathews braved a thigh strain with a runner and batted solidly for an unbeaten 37 to see the tourists through in the company of Ajantha Mendis (2 not out) after spinner Suraj Randiv, who took three wickets on his debut, was run out.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni lashed his sixth one-day century (107) to guide India to a commanding 301 for seven after choosing to bat first in the day-night game.
SHAKY START
Dhoni, who slammed 72 in the opening match, shared in a 126-run fifth wicket stand with Suresh Raina (68) to help the hosts recover after a shaky start.
“We needed a couple of wickets with the new ball, but that didn’t happen and it puts tremendous pressure on the spinners,” Dhoni said.
“The only way we could have won this game was to take wickets especially after Dilshan got out,” he added.
India lost Virender Sehwag (4) to left-arm paceman Chanaka Welegedara in the first over of the match and Gautam Gambhir (2) was run out with the total at 19.
Opener Sachin Tendulkar (43) and Virat Kohli (54) put India on the path to recovery with a third-wicket stand of 62 before Tendulkar was stumped off of Mendis.
Dhoni, who had reprieves on 49 and 94, shared a 51-run stand with Kohli before the latter was Randiv’s first victim.
Raina fell in the 47th over, giving paceman Angelo Mathews the charge and Dhoni was dismissed in the last over by Randiv, who had Harbhajan Singh stumped for a duck off the last ball of the innings.
The tourists were cruising at 213 for two when left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra yorked Dilshan.
Zaheer forced Jaywardene to edge behind, triggering a collapse before Mathews bravely guided the visitors to victory.
The third match will be played in Cuttack on Monday.
