India beat Lanka, revive hopes for place in final

Agencies

Posted online: Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 1618 hrs IST

Adelaide, February 19:
India revived their hopes for a berth in the final of the cricket tri-series as they recovered from early jolts to script a thrilling two-wicket win against Sri Lanka in a crucial game in Adelaide on Tuesday.

After the islanders posted a competitive 238 for six largely built around Kumar Sangakkara's 128, the Indian batsmen overcame some anxious moments before overhauling the target with just five balls to spare in a keenly-contested floodlit encounter at the Adelaide Oval.

The beleaguered Yuvraj Singh marked his return to form with a 70-ball 76 while captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (50 not out), Irfan Pathan (31) and Rohit Sharma (24) were the other notable performers.

The victory has consolidated India's position for a place in the best-of-three finals and they need to win at least one of their remaining two matches to qualify for the summit showdown.

Australia were at the top of the points table with 17 points from five matches followed by India who have 12 points from as many matches. Sri Lanka were at the bottom of the table with six points from four games and need to win two of their remaining three matches to make it to the final.

India will play their next match against Australia at Sydney on February 24.

The Indian run chase began on a disastrous note as they lost Sachin Tendulkar (0), Gautam Gambhir (15) and Robin Uthappa (10) cheaply to be precariously placed at 35 for three at one stage before Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni came to the rescue of the team.