India 3-119 in 29 overs (Rohit Sharma 48*, Virat Kohli 31, Rangana Herath 2-32) beat Sri Lanka 96 all out in 24.4 overs (Dinesh Chandimal 26, Jeevan Mendis 13, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-8, Ravindra Jadeja 2-17) by 81 runs (D/L method).
A devastating bowling spell from the speedster, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, destroyed the strong batting line up of Sri Lanka as India jumped into the final with force.
The Blue Shirts scored 119 runs in 29 overs for the loss of three wickets when the play was stopped because of rain. The Islanders were given a tough task of scoring 178 off 26 overs (D/L method) and they were bowled out for 96 mere runs with eight balls still remaining.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (India) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his career’s best bowling spell of 4-8.
The 6th match of the West Indies Tri-Nation Series was played on Tuesday, July 9, 2013, at Queens Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Earlier, Angelo Mathews won the toss for the Lankan Lions and preferred to chase. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan started off reasonably well by scoring 27 runs in six overs with 3 fours. Dhawan was caught by Mahela Jayawardene in the slip off Angelo Mathews for 15 and was replaced by his captain, Virat Kohli. Sharma was dropped at 11 by Jeevan Mendis off Lasith Malinga as Kohli got his third four in the 15th over. The second wicket partnership was broken at 76 when Virat Kohli was declared leg before wicket off Rangana Herath for 31 from 52 balls with 4 fours.
Dinesh Karthik walked in next and dispatched the first six of the innings on the second ball he faced. Sharma kept on consolidating at his end and the first hundred of the innings appeared on board in the 25th over. Karthik was clean bowled by Herath for 12 and Rohit Sharma took guards at the wicket next. The innings was called off because of rain as the total touched 119 runs in 29 overs with seven wickets still in hand. Rohit Sharma was batting for 48 off 83 deliveries with 1 six and 2 fours and Sharma scored four runs.
The play resumed after more than four hours and Sri Lanka was asked to score 178 runs in 26 overs as per Duckworth/Lewis method. Upul Tharanga and Mahela Jayawardene took off nicely by scoring 13 runs in the second over with a couple of fours. The Indian quick bowler, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, had some other ideas in his mind as he removed Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara for 6 and 0 in his second over. The Lankan batsmen went back to their defences and reached 23 after six overs whereas Mahela Jayawardene became the next victim of Kumar after scoring 11 runs.
Kumar continued with his hostile spell as Lahiru Thirimanne surrendered against him without scoring any run. Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews added 25 runs for the fifth wicket before the latter was gone for 10. Chandimal followed him after the addition of seven runs at his personal score of 26 off 54 with 1 six and 1 four. The entire Sri Lankan team was sent back to the pavilion for 96 after consuming 24.4 overs.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the star performer with four wickets, Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja shared two wickets each whereas Umesh Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin chipped in with one wicket each.
India grasped the important game with a huge margin of 81 runs and registered their place for the final. The hosts West Indies were eliminated from the final because of the poor run rate, the final will be played between India and Sri Lanka on July 11, 2013.
Points earned by three teams in the pool matches are as follows:
1- India – 10 points from 4 games at a net run rate of +0.054.
2- Sri Lanka – 9 points from 4 games at a net run rate of +0.348.
3- West Indies – 9 points from 4 games at a net run rate of -0.383.
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