SL elude Whitewash, India win Series 4-1

A slice of history could not be claimed by MS Dhoni’s men in the final ODI at Colombo as Sri Lanka averted a home-series whitewash with a 68 runs win. India still went on to lift the winner’s trophy as the series result read 4-1 in their favour.
Bundled out for 252, the Men in Blue could not win it all but also gave an insight that the squad was human too and that wins or losses are a part and parcel of the game.
Ravindra Jadeja was the man with the blade along with the skipper as he hit a fifty on his ODI debut, another positive to be taken home for India. Dhoni’s ploy to test the bench strength paid some good dividends for the future of Indian cricket.
A clinical approach by the Lankan pacers saw the Indian batsmen look out of their rhythm. The top order fell like a pack of cards and even the fabled middle order that boasts of going in till deep also didn’t really shine.
All in all, it was a fine grace saving performance by Sri Lanka who proved that despite a hard series, they could churn good cricket in the face of world class competition from India.
Dhoni turned out to be a fighter to the core as the captain hit a gritty fifty before being claimed by Sanath Jayasuriya’s golden arm.
The ‘Murali’ magic finally came alive for the hosts as India’s swashbuckling southpaw Yuvraj Singh became his first victim of the day that was followed by the scalp of Yusuf Pathan.
Sri Lanka had posted a solid 315 for India to chase in the final ODI of the 5 match series in order to complete the whitewash. A small but dynamic cameo from Maharoof in the death overs bolstered the total and blew any hopes of an easy win.
The first proceedings of the morning belonged Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene as he won the toss against India and elected to bat first, a great omen indeed as India got a major shock early on in the chase as Sehwag mistimed a shot into the hands of Muralitharan off Thushara’s bowling.
India had tried a comeback towards the slog overs as Sri Lanka lost four wickets in no time at all, but it went in vain soon.
Dilshan was the star with the willow for the Lankans and Rohit Sharma ran him out at 97 runs just before Kapugedera was caught behind the stumps.
Mahela Jayawardene went after scoring just a run as Yuvraj started his over with a bang. His run of form, that was the talk of the town before the series, came in the shadows yet again.
Ishant Sharma clean bowled Thilina Kandamby, a promising start that did not materialise up to the liking of the visitors.
Kumar Sangakkara hit a fine knock before he too succumbed to the guile of Rohit Sharma as Yuvraj Singh caught him at 84 to give India a breather.
The half-centurions Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sangakkara had come to Sri Lanka’s rescue and built on an effective alliance to avoid a middle order hiccup.
The ‘Motera Mauler’ did give a glimpse of his ominous stature in the ODI arena as he pulled and drove the cherry beyond the boundary ropes, sending the Indian pace battery into a recharge mode.
Debutant Ravindra Jadeja has started off his international cricket campaign on an inauspicious note by dropping Jayasuriya on 19, an area he’d be more careful assuming that his show with the bat might have please those in the high offices of the board to give him another shot at immortality.
It was series of cordial cricket, best symbolised by the apologetic handshake that was swiftly offered by Ishant Sharma when he accidentally bowled a beamer in the death overs. The act showed that the sport was played with no malice whatsoever and offered a treat to the cricketing audiences worldwide