Malinga returns

The slinger is back in the Lankan team, a quirky coincidence coming so close on the heels of India recalling Laxmipathy Balaji from his own injury-induced break. Lasith Malinga marks his return to international cricket after the selectors named the tearaway fast bowler in the squad for the Twenty20 team against India on February 10. The hosts, however, decided to retain the same squad for the last two one-dayers.

More crowd trouble

Sri Lanka isn’t a venue that is associated with crowd trouble, but it does seem as if the spectators are getting fed up of their team’s no-show in the series so far. For the second match in succession, play was interrupted after an object was thrown at an Indian player.

While Ishant Sharma was the target in the second one-dayer, Praveen Kumar managed to escape as he dodged the missile. Fielding at long-on, he just picked it up and walked straight to the umpires as game was held up for five minutes.

Extra policemen were then deployed into the stand where the trouble came from, and India went on to complete that always seemed a formality.