INDIA WON TRI-SERIES.

 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, left, and teammate Virat Kohli hold the trophy after winning the final match of the Tri-Nation cricket series in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, Thursday, July 11, 2013. India beat Sri Lanka by one wicket with two balls remaining.

India captain MS Dhoni smashed 16 off the first four balls of the final over to clinch the Tri Nation series with a thrilling one wicket victory over Sri Lanka in Port of Spain on Thursday.
After bowling out Sri Lanka for 201, India were facing defeat at 167 for eight but, needing 15 to win off the final over, Dhoni smashed Shaminda Eranga for a six and a four and then won the game with another six with two balls to spare. 

The victory continues India's success in the one-day game following their triumph in last month's Champions Trophy.
Hosts West Indies finished third in the series having failed to make the final, which resulted in a disappointing crowd.

Eranga will surely regret his decision to bowl full length deliveries around off stump to Dhoni, allowing the Indian the room to drive. 

But for Dhoni, returning from a hamstring injury and looking uncomfortable running between the wickets, it was a superb effort, his unbeaten 45 proving decisive in a low scoring contest at the Queen's Park Oval. 

Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara struck a fine 71 in a 122 run partnership with Lahiru Thirimanne to give them a solid foundation but after he went, with the first ball of the 40th over and his team 174 for four, their innings fell apart with just 27 runs added for the final six wickets.
Slow left-armer Ravindra Jadeja picked up four wickets as he ran through the Sri Lankan lower order, with India finishing off their opponents with seven balls remaining of their allotted 50 overs. 

INDIA'S REPLY
It was a similar story with India's reply - Rohit Sharma was the anchor, making 58, before he was bowled by slow left-armer Rangana Herath.
Suresh Raina made 32 and when he departed in the 35th over India were well on their way at 145 for five. 


 Statistical highlights of the ODI tri-series final between India and Sri Lanka here.
 Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (78 dismissals -- 59 catches + 19 stumpings in 57 matches) has become the first wicketkeeper to effect 75 dismissals in India-Sri Lanka ODIs.
 Dhoni became the first wicketkeeper to effect three stumpings in an innings on three occasions in ODIs. 

 Dhoni has got his 19th Man of the Match award in ODIs - his sixth against Sri Lanka. 

Dhoni has become the second wicketkeeper after Kumar Sangakkara to record a 40-plus and effect four dismissals in the same match twice. He had first accomplished the double vs Hong Kong at Karachi on June 25, 2008 - 109 not out and four dismissals. 

Sangakkara (71) recorded his 77th fifty in ODIs. With 22 innings of fifty-plus -- five hundreds + 17 fifties, he has set a record against India in ODIs, bettering the 21 (7 hundreds + 14 fifties) by Sanath Jayasuriya. 

Sangakkara is averaging 63.87 in ODIs in 2013 -- his tally being 511, including a hundred and four fifties. 

Sangakkara, during the course of his innings, completed 1,000 runs in Tournament Finals in ODIs, totalling 1023 runs at an average of 40.92 in 26 matches.

 Sangakkara became the third Sri Lankan player after Sanath Jayasuriya (1613) and Mahela Jayawardene (1028) to amass 1000 runs in Tournament Finals. 

 Bhuvneshwar Kumar's tally of 10 wickets (ave.9.70) is his best performance in a series -- also the highest in the just-concluded Tri series competition. 

Kumar has got his first Player of the Series award in ODIs. His performance of two for 24 is his best in a tournament final. 

 For the first time, Kumar bowled four maiden overs in an innings and became the third Indian bowler after Kapil Dev and Venkatesh Prasad to bowl four maiden overs or more in an ODI Final.