India thrash Sri Lanka, enter Tri-Series Final

India lost both their opening matches, and one against Sri Lanka by a huge margin of 161 runs. But, they bounced back to win the remaining two matches by bonus points to finish at the top of the points table and qualified for the final of Celkon Mobile Cup Tri-Series. On the other hand, hosts West Indies, which started with a bang by winning the first two matches, crashed out of the tournament.

In the rain-interrupted match yesterday, India scored a spectacular victory over Sri Lanka. Lanka won the toss and elected to bowl on a difficult batting wicket. India were 119/3 in 29 overs when rain stopped play. Rohit Sharma was batting on 48, while Kohli made 31. Herath took two wickets for Sri Lanka.

Later, when the play resumed after a long delay, Sri Lanka was given a target of 178 from 26 overs under the D/L method. Bhuvneshwar Kumar wreaked havoc by dismissing the four top order batsmen of Sri Lankan innings. Sri Lanka slumped to 31/4 and never recovered from that shock. They bowled out for 96 in 24.4 overs and lost the match by 81 runs. Chandimal was the top scorer wiith 26. Ishant and Jadeja took two wickets each. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was declared ‘Man of the Match’.

India won with a bonus point and finished at the top. India and Sri Lanka will meet each other again in the final, which will be held on July 11.