India claimed a spot in the tri-series finals with a crushing seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in their one-day match here yesterday.
A spectacular middle-order collapse saw Sri Lanka make just 179 from 47.1 overs and India had few problems reaching the target in 32.2 overs, scoring 180 for three.
Although Sri Lanka still have one game remaining in the series, against Australia on Friday, they cannot reach the finals and it has been a disappointing tournament for last year's World Cup finalists.
Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene said his team simply hadn't played well enough throughout the series, with just one win from seven matches.
Importantly for India, star batsman Sachin Tendulkar burst out of his form slump ahead of the finals against Australia with his first half-century of the series.
Tendulkar was back to his brilliant best as he punished the bowlers, hitting three successive boundaries off seamer Ishara Amerasinghe in making 63 from 54 balls, including 10 fours.
Gautam Gambhir continued his impressive form with an unbeaten 63, while Yuvraj Singh looked dangerous with a rapid 36.
Sri Lanka had appeared to be cruising towards a big total at 72 for one after being sent in to bat, with veteran opener Sanath Jayasuriya back in some touch and Kumar Sangakkara continuing his good form.
However, Sangakkara's dismissal for 33, caught behind by Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni from the bowling of the recalled Praveen Kumar, sparked a destructive collapse.
Sri Lanka lost 6-21 in just over 11 overs to slump to 93 for seven.
Kumar, who was named man of the match, and paceman Ishant Sharma did most of the damage, claiming four wickets apiece.
Sharma impressed with 4-41, while Kumar, playing just his second game of the series, grabbed three wickets in as many overs to tear the heart out of the Sri Lankan batting and finish with 4-31.
Sangakkara was quickly followed back to the pavilion by Jayawardene, caught by Rohit Sharma from the bowling of Kumar for just three.
With the skipper gone, the innings quickly fell apart.
Chamara Silva's struggles continued when he fell for a duck and Jayasuriya then threw his wicket away when he top edged an attempted pull from the bowling of Irfan Pathan on 34.
Tillakaratne Dilshan made just eight and Chaminda Vaas played a poor shot to fall to Sharma for a duck.
It was then left to Chamara Kapugedera and tail-ender Lasith Malinga to add some respectability to the innings, the pair putting on 46 before the latter became Sharma's fourth victim.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite