India fail to whitewash Sri Lanka

Colombo, Feb 8: India’s record breaking sequence of nine consecutive ODI triumphs was brought to an end today by Sri Lanka who salvaged some pride with a consolation 68-run win in the fifth and final one-day cricket match of the series which has already been clinched by the visitors.
The defeat mean that India could not make a clean sweep of the series and had to be content with a 4-1 victory margin.
Sri Lankan opener Tillakaratne Dilshan missed a ton by just three runs and Kumar Sangakkara’s hit 84 while spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan regained form just in time to avoid the series whitewash.
Half centuries by Yuvraj Singh (73), debutant Ravindra Jadeja (60 not out) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (53) could not be enough as Indian top order failed to click and the visitors were rolled over with seven balls to spare in chase of Sri Lanka’s challenging 320 for eight on a batting track.
The Indians went into the final match without key players like Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan and spinner Pragyan Ojha with the team management deciding to try out bench strength.
Yuvraj gave some stability to the run chase after his side was reduced to 85 for four inside the 15th over. India, however, struggled again after some time as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals on a day when nothing went right for them.
A cautious Dhoni and Jadeja only tried to delay the inevitable by putting on 55 runs off 66 balls for the seventh wicket. Dhoni’s effort included two massive sixes and a hit to the fence. He reached his 50 with a towering six. Jadeja’s 77-ball knock was aided by four fours.