DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka, 31 July 2005 — Sanath Jayasuriya batted through a shoulder injury to score a crucial 43 not out as Sri Lanka beat India by three wickets in a triangular one-day series match here yesterday.
The left-handed opener was forced bat at No. 6 after suffering the injury while fielding early in the Indian innings, but still managed to steer his team home in a tense day-night game at the Rangiri Stadium.
Chasing a modest 206-run target, Sri Lanka were struggling at 112-5 before Jayasuriya came to his team’s rescue with a commendable knock under pressure on a slow pitch. The hosts eventually won with 10 balls to spare.
Jayasuriya, who was 76 short of becoming the third batsman to complete 10,000 runs in one-dayers before the match, batted in pain to keep the Indian attack at bay during his brave 50-ball knock which contained six fours.
India had threatened to strike back after a dismal batting performance as they reduced the hosts to 172-7, but then ran into a determined Jayasuriya who was named man of the match.
Indian seamers Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh grabbed two wickets apiece but their efforts were still not good enough to help their team defend a small target.
Earlier, Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan (3-33) and debutant seamer Dilhara Lokuhettige (2-31) bowled well to restrict India, playing their first match under new captain (Rahul Dravid) and coach (Greg Chappell).
Dravid top-scored with a fighting 54 in an inconsistent Indian batting performance. He received support only from debutant Venugopal Rao (38).
The Indian skipper struck five fours in his 60th half-century before being bowled round the legs by leg-spinner Upul Chandana.
Dravid steadied the innings with a 58-run stand for the sixth wicket with Rao before lower-order batsmen Pathan (21), Harbhajan (20 not out) and Zaheer (20) helped their team cross the 200-mark.
India recovered after being reduced to 64-5 in the opening 20 overs, scoring 141 for their last four wickets. But their total still fell short of their expectations.
India went into the match with a virtual new-look batting order in the absence of experienced batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly. Opener Tendulkar has been ruled out of the tournament following an elbow surgery, while Ganguly is currently serving a four-match ban. The Indian batting wobbled early in the match as they lost openers Virender Sehwag and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in successive overs.
Farveez Maharoof provided the breakthrough when he bowled Sehwag (14) and then Lokuhettige knocked back Dhoni’s middle-stump for his maiden wicket.
Lokuhettige, who had conceded 13 runs in his opening over to Sehwag, struck again when he had Yuvraj Singh caught by substitute Upul Tharanga at mid-on.
With runs hard to come by against a disciplined Sri Lankan attack, pressure kept mounting on the Indian batsmen.
Muralitharan then had a hand in a pair of dismissals to put India in deep trouble.
The off-spinner first held a superb diving catch at mid-on to account for Mohammad Kaif and then trapped debutant Suresh Raina leg-before with a straighter one.
Rao batted well under pressure and provided valuable support to Dravid before becoming Muralitharan’s third victim.
