Everything went according to the script and India played to the Vizag gallery on a bright sunny morning. It was a day that the Indian skipper got it all by calling right and electing to field first.

But first things first– the Lankan innings got underway when Atapattu opened with Jayasuriya. Agarkar bowled straight when he got his bunny Jayasuriya for 22, Atapattu didn’t last either, he was bowled by Sreesanth for 19. No top order batsman stuck at the wicket which was a batting paradise. The Lankan batting order could have collapsed if not for a brilliant 107 off 107 balls from Chamara D’silva who was given good supported by the lower order batsmen—Dishan, Arnold and Maharoof chipping in with 20-odd runs each.

Zaheer Khan and Agarkar picked a couple of wickets as the islanders finished on 259 for 7 in 47 overs due to a delayed start.

India started it pursuit by sending Ganguly and Sehwag to open, Ganguly due to cramps had to leave the field after scoring 1. Uthappa and Sehwag got started by dismissing all the loose deliveries to the fence. Uthappa was in his flamboyant self scoring heavily of Malinga. Robin took 37 balls to get to his fifty before holding one out to Jayasuriya of Maharoof. Sehwag looked like playing his usual self but slashed a delivery to the third man to take a casual single when Sangakkara ran him out. 

At the fall of Sehwag’s wicket Dinesh Karthik walked in but a rising Fernando delivery saw him walk back to the pavilion after scoring one. Ganguly came back from where he left. He and Yuvraj never really got threatened by the Lankan attack and scored freely as if they were at nets.

Yuvraj Singh scored an unbeaten 95 as the dashing left-hander scored his runs off only 83 deliveries, inclusive of 11 boundaries and three sixes, as India chased down Sri Lanka’s total of 259 with six overs to spare.

Yuvraj was given good support from former India captain Saurav Ganguly, who scored 58 off 74 balls. The duo was involved in an unbeaten stand of 145 runs for the fourth wicket as India ended up scoring 263 for 3.

Chamara D’Silva was adjudged man of the match, while Ganguly, who scored 168 runs, inclusive of two fifties, in the three matches, at an average of 84.00, was man of the series.

Brief Scores

Sri Lanka 259-7 in 47 overs lost to India 263- 3 in 41 overs.