Captain Dhoni takes India home in nail-biter

Adelaide: The Indian middle order came up with an inspiring show to guide their team to a two-wicket win against Sri Lanka at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday. Taking a leaf out of opposite number Kumar Sangakkara's book who powered the Lankan innings with a brilliant ton, MS Dhoni showed his mettle to come up with a composed knock, which took India to 12 points from six games in the CB series.

Three crucial fifty plus stands resurrected fortunes for the Indians, who were 35-3 at one stage as they successfully chased down the 239-run target, keeping their campaign in the tri-series alive. Yuvraj Singh (76), Dhoni (50 not out) and Irfan Pathan (31) were the chief architects of the Indian win.

Yuvraj, who celebrated his return to form with a dazzling fifty, was first involved with Rohit Sharma in a 64-run stand to take India out of the dumps. After Sharma's dismissal, the southpaw built the base for the chase with skipper Dhoni with a 59-run partnership. Dhoni and Pathan then took India close to the Lankan total through a 58-run stand.

However, two late wickets by Ishara Amerasinghe and one by Malinga led to some nervy moments for India but the Indian captain, leading from the front took India home with just five balls to spare. Dhoni stayed till the end to ensure India bagged four points from the encounter. The wicketkeeper batsman curbed his natural instincts to bludgeon the ball and put his head down to come up with a fighting fifty, which did not include a single hit to the fence.

Earlier, the Indian innings suffered a coronary attack in the initial stages after Sri Lanka ripped through the Indian top order.

Sachin Tendulkar (zero) continued his poor run in the CB series. He could survive only one ball before Malinga cleaned him up. Robin Uthappa, coming at number three (10) fell victim to a superb piece of fielding from Sanath Jayasuriya as the all-rounder ran down the stumps from mid-off. India’s man in form Gautam Gambhir (15) was the next to fall as he edged one down the leg-side off rookie pacer Amerasinghe and Sangakkara gloved an easy catch.