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Virender Sehwag replicated Tillakaratne Dilshan's dash at the top of the order, before Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir consolidated to put India on course for the victory that would take them 2-1 ahead in this five-match series. Gambhir's dismissal, caught and bowled off the leading edge by Suraj Randiv, was a minor setback, but with wickets in hand and an asking-rate of just four an over, the game was India's to lose.

Chanaka Welegedara started the innings with a maiden, and Sehwag watched Tendulkar clip and cover-drive Nuwan Kulasekara for fours. When his turn came, he took Kulasekara for three fours in an over, a feat he repeated when Lasith Malinga came on without his radar in place. Welegedara was also then smashed for three fours before Dilshan held, at the third time of asking, an attempt to belt the ball over point.

Sehwag's 44 spanned 28 balls, and the run-flow eased temporarily after his exit. Tendulkar was fortunate when an inside edge off Kulasekara missed leg stump on its way for four, but with some lovely strokes being played through the covers and midwicket, the innings was soon back on track.

Tendulkar welcomed Ajantha Mendis with a paddle and a cover-drive for fours. When he then upper-cut Kulasekara for four more, Kumar Sangakkara brought on Randiv in a bid to emulate what the Indian spinners had done earlier in the day. He duly got Gambhir, but with Tendulkar well set and Yuvraj Singh finding his off-side rhythm, it looked likely to be no more than a blip.


Things were not hunky-dory for India at the start of the match. Tillakaratne Dilshan blazed his way to 41 from just 18 balls, and with Upul Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara building on that, Sri Lanka were on course for another massive total after deciding to bat first in Cuttack.

But from 165 for 1 after 22.2 overs, they collapsed in terrible fashion, undone by a combination of Indian spin (led by Ravindra Jadeja) , poor shot selection and two wickets in two balls from Ishant Sharma, who had gone for a whopping 46 in his first three overs. They had lost the remaining nine wickets for 74 runs and slumped to 239 all out.

The spinners had restored a measure of sanity to the proceedings after the pace bowlers, Ashish Nehra apart, were treated with utter disdain. It was left to Virender Sehwag, captaining in place of the banned MS Dhoni, to give the team some respite, having Sangakkara stumped for 46, despite Dinesh Karthik initially fumbling the take. And that success was built on soon after, with Tharanga losing his off bail in Jadeja's opening over after an attractive 73.

Sri Lanka never recovered from those twin blows. Mahela Jayawardene's poor series continued when he slugged a long hop from Harbhajan Singh to short midwicket, where Suresh Raina timed the leap perfectly to take the catch. Thilina Kandamby and Chamara Kapugedera stopped the rot for a few overs, but then Jadeja and Ishant combined to end all hopes of a large total.

First, Kapugedera played on off Jadeja, and then Kandamby too found the inner edge off Ishant. When Suraj Randiv got a thin edge to one that moved away, it was 210 for 7. Jadeja then trapped Nuwan Kulasekara plumb in front as Sri Lanka unravelled completely. When Jadeja slid one through the defence of Ajantha Mendis, he had 4 for 32 from his 10 overs.

It had been so different at the start of play, with Zaheer Khan bowling three wides in an opening over where Dilshan added two fours for good measure. Ishant, in the side in place of Praveen Kumar, was greeted with a crisp shot to long-on and two meaty flails through cover. With Tharanga then whacking one down the ground for six, and Dilshan slapping another ball through cover, the 50 took just 3.4 overs, the fastest-ever against India.

Nehra came on to stem the tide, and Dilshan could have gone on 36, only for Karthik to make a mess of a flick on to the stumps that would have run him out. It wasn't a costly miss though, with a top-edged heave at Nehra ending up in Karthik's hands soon after. By then, the run-rate was 10 though, and with Tharanga steering and cutting the ball neatly, the runs continued to mount.

Sangakkara drove Ishant straight down the ground to bring up the hundred, and when Tharanga edged Harbhajan down to third man, he had his half-century from 51 balls. Sangakkara then lofted Sehwag for a straight six, and things were looking exceedingly grim for India until the spinners and Ishant had their say. They were helped too by Sri Lanka succumbing to the Christmas spirit of giving.