India restrict Lanka to 233/8

Perth: India recovered from initial sloppiness with a tidy bowling show and impressive fielding as they restricted Sri Lanka to 233 for eight in a cricket tri-series match here today.

Scorecard

Indian spinners Ravindra Jadeja (1/41) and Ravichandran Ashwin (3/32) squeezed the runs dry while returning left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan was brilliant upfront with two crucial wickets after Sri Lanka elected to bat at the WACA Ground.

Zaheer began with the scalp of opener Upul Tharanga (4) in his second over and then returned midway to send back Kumar Sangakkara (26) to finish with two for 44 from his allotted 10 overs.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni also put up an impeccable show, having a hand in two stumpings and a run-out, besides a catch.

Sri Lanka had things in control when Tillakaratne Dilshan (48) and Kumar Sangakkara (26) put on 62 runs for the second wicket. Apparently, a platform had been laid and Sri Lanka were eyeing a total in excess of 250 runs.

But it all changed when Sangakkara departed, caught brilliantly by Dhoni, diving to his left, off Zaheer who returned for his second spell in the 17th over.

India then wrested back control, conceding at one stage only 44 runs from 15 overs. The bowling powerplay, which India took in the 16th over, cost only 11 runs for a wicket.

Ashwin began with a maiden over but then was held back for final overs. Dhoni pressed on with Praveen Kumar and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and the two squeezed the runs dry.