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Untitled Document
 Dhoni, Yuvraj star in Indian victory in Adelaide
19th Feb 2008 20:03 IST
Agencies
Mahendra Singh Dhoni played a captain's knock while his deputy Yuvraj Singh hit form to guide India to a nail-biting two-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the crucial eighth match of the Tri-Series in Adelaide today.
India revived their hopes for a berth in the final of the Tri-Series as they recovered from early jolts to script the thrilling win.
After the islanders posted a competitive 238/6 largely built around Kumar Sangakkara's 128, the Indian batsmen overcame some anxious moments before overhauling the target with just five balls to spare in a keenly-contested floodlit encounter at the Adelaide Oval.
The beleaguered Yuvraj marked his return to form with a 70-ball 76 while captain Dhoni (50 not out), Irfan Pathan (31) and Rohit Sharma (24) were the other notable performers.
The Indian run chase began on a disastrous note as they lost Sachin Tendulkar (0), Gautam Gambhir (15) and Robin Uthappa (10) cheaply to be precariously placed at 35/3 at one stage before Yuvraj and Dhoni came to the rescue of the team.
India needed three runs in Farveez Maharoof's last over and Dhoni completed his half century by hitting the last two runs, triggering off wild celebrations in the dressing room.
The Indians owed their win to Yuvraj who turned around his disastrous tour with a sumptuous 76 off 70 balls with 10 fours and a six which pulled the team out of a messy start.
No less remarkable was the sixth wicket pair of Dhoni and Pathan who shared a 58-run stand and brought Indians closer to victory.
The Indians still found themselves slipping into a quagmire when it lost three wickets and suddenly Sri Lanka were back in the match.
Pathan attempted a wild slog off Ishara Amerasinghe to leave India 216/6 in the 46th over and then young Praveen Kumar (6) and Harbhajan Singh (3) left with India still three runs short in the 49th over.
Ishant Sharma blocked the last two deliveries to deny Lasith Malinga any further success. The first ball of the final over was a wide and then Dhoni steered one towards point boundary to scamper home for the required two runs.
It also completed Dhoni’s half century, a remarkable effort as the courageous youngster faced 68 balls without hitting a single four.
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