Ind vs SL: Thiramanne falls to Ashwin after brisk knock at the Gabba

NEW DELHI: Lahiru Thiramanne hit a run-a-ball 62 before hitting a R Ashwin delivery in the covers for Suresh Raina to take the catch in the 8th ODI of the tri-series at the Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday.

Scorecard/Points Table 

Thiramanne reached his 50 off 53 balls.

Irfan Pathan clean bowled Dinesh Chandimal with a yorker as Sri Lanka lost their fourth wicket.

Chandimal and Thiramanne put up a 71-run stand for the fourth wicket to steady Sri Lanka.

Sachin Tendulkar took a good catch at fine leg to dismiss Kumar Sangakkara off Umesh Yadav as Sri Lanka lost their third wicket.

Ravichandran Ashwin gave India the second breakthrough when he had Tillakaratne Dilshan caught behind by Parthiv Patel.

Ashwin struck with a length delivery well outside off that did not turn much but bounced more than Dilshan expected it to and he got a thin top edge through for Patel to take a good catch.

Dilshan reached his 26th fifty soon after stand-in Indian captain Virender Sehwag took a superb diving catch at mid-wicket to dismiss Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene off Irfan Pathan.

Jayawardene pulled a short of length delivery over the leg side, but didn't time it too well and Sehwag flew to his left at mid-wicket to pull off a stunner.

Openers Dilshan and Jayawardene brought up the Sri Lankan fifty in the eighth over.

The start came after Jayawardene won the toss and chose to bat.

For India, Virender Sehwag, Parthiv Patel and R Ashwin come in place of Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and Zaheer Khan. Sri Lanka are unchanged from the last match.

The pitch looks a good batting track but it would be difficult to chase under lights as the bowlers will get some movement under lights.

A win for Sri Lanka on Tuesday will put them on par with India on 10 points, that too with one less game. Besides, they also boast of a much better run-rate. As of now Australia are sitting pretty with 14 points from 5 matches, India have 10 from 5 while Sri Lanka have 7 points from 4 matches.

Teams: 

India: Virender Sehwag (Capt.), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Parthiv Patel, Irfan Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav.

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (Capt.), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thiramanne, Angelo Matthews, Thisara Perera, Farveez Maharoof, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Rangana Herath.