Thilan Thushara, who walked in at number nine, made a valiant effort, contributing 30 in an 81-run eighth-wicket partnership. But once he was yorked out by Zaheer, Jayawardene was left with too much on his plate.

Batting stars

Earlier, India, led by the efforts of Dhoni and Raina, had done well to reach 237 for nine in their 50 overs.

A promising start from Virat Kohli camouflaged Gautam Gambhir’s struggle against Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Kulasekara. Yuvraj Singh flattered to deceive in the middle-order once again, but Raina and Dhoni seemed to have conquered some demons. The most impressive part of the runs the duo scored was the way they tackled Mendis.

Raina’s knock of 53 off 80 balls not only triggered a late middle-order revival — they were 4 for 91 at one stage — but also helped India demystify their nemesis. He started by getting down on his knee and slogging the ball over mid-wicket for a six in Mendis’s first over, while Dhoni used his own methods to ensure that Mendis — who finished with 3-53 — was the most expensive Lankan bowler.

Ugly, but effective

Watching Dhoni play Mendis wasn’t the greatest of cricketing sights but it certainly was effective. The Indian skipper employed an ugly front-foot defence and some audacious swipes, he waited on the backfoot for the ball to turn and cut and drove with brute power.

“The important thing about tackling him was to punish the bad balls. All this while, he was never put under any pressure which is why he continued to dominate. Today we reversed it,” he said after the match. Dhoni picked Mendis for 29 runs against 28 bowled to him. Raina got 13 runs off 14 balls and Rohit Sharma, who shared a handy 67 runs for the sixth wicket, got 10 from the nine he faced.

... contd.