By IANS
Hobart (Australia) : On a day when Indians put up identical performances, pacers Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar took four-wicket hauls to bowl India to win over Sri Lanka and into the finals of the Commonwealth Bank Triangular Series here Tuesday.
Ishant produced his best bowling performance against Sri Lanka – four for 41. This is his second best performance, next only to his career-best four for 38 against Australia in Melbourne this month.
Praveen, playing his third match, bagged four for 31 to record his career best performance in ODIs.
Captain and wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who took his 100th, also set a milestone for a series.
With 16 — 14 catches and two stumpings — dismissals in the series, Dhoni emulated Rahul Dravid’s Indian record for most dismissals in an ODI competition/series. In the 2002-03 World Cup, Dravid had effected 16 dismissals in 11 matches.
Dhoni became the second Indian wicketkeeper after Nayan Mongia (110) to take 100 catches.
India recorded their second win in four ODIs at this venue. On Jan 14, 2004, India had registered a seven-wicket triumph against Zimbabwe.
India’s win Tuesday is their biggest win against Sri Lanka in Australia, outstripping their two-wicket win at Adelaide on February 19, 2008.
India have won 26 out of 68 matches played in Australia. They have lost 38, three have ended in a no result and one has finished tied.
Wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara became the first Sri Lankan to aggregate 300 runs or more in Australia’s triangular series in Australia twice — 469 in 2005-06 and 315 in 2007-08.
Sanath Jayasuriya has now not scored a half-century for 19 innings. His previous half-century had come against Australia in the World Cup final in Bridgetown April 28, 2007, when he had posted 63 off 67 balls.
In 50 matches in Australia, Jayasuriya has amassed 1,261 runs at an average of 27.41, including three centuries and five half-centuries.
Chamara Kapugedera posted his career-best score — 57 — his second fifty in ODIs. His previous best was 50 against Pakistan at the Sinhalese Cricket Club ground in Colombo in March 2006.
The best-of-three finals of the triangular series will be played March 2, 4 and 7.