India landed in Sri Lanka needing three straight wins in order to claim the No 1 spot in the ICCs ODI rankings,and they made the perfect start with a 97-run win over New Zealand on Friday. And the encounter against Sri Lanka apart from being a dress rehearsal for the final was billed as Indias second step towards achieving the top spot. But the dream was over in just 37.2 overs of Indias chase on Saturday,as they suffered a humiliating 139-run loss their biggest defeat on Lankan soil - with Man-of-the-Match Angelo Mathews claiming 6 for 20. Mathews,playing in his 12th one-day international,derailed the Indian batting line up for 168 during their chase of 308. The 22-year-old wasnt as fiery as Lasith Malinga,neither did he swing the ball like Thilan Thushara but he kept his basics right and stuck to his length,leaving the pitch to do the rest. Chasing a target at the Premadasa is always a tough task given the slow nature of the pitch,and things started to go wrong for the Indians right from the start. Opener Dinesh Karthik once again disappointed and while Sachin Tendulkar looked good in his knock of 27,he submitted to a slower one. Yuvraj was tested outside the off-stump by Malinga and the Indian vice-captain finally edged one to keeper Kumar Sangakkara. Things went worse when Suresh Raina,who played brilliantly against New Zealand,was out for a golden duck. Rahul Dravid,making a comeback to the ODIs,batted to his reputation and held one end up for a while. But as the required rate kept shot up,he too perished attempting a big drive after scoring 47 off 56 balls. Earlier,under-fire Sanath Jayasuriya returned to form with a 79-ball 98 and was supported by another left-hander Thilana Kandamby with an unbeaten 91,as hosts Sri Lanka scored a mammoth 307 for six. The 40-year-old Jayasuriya added 57 for the first wicket with Tillakaratne Dilshan before Ishant Sharma got the latter caught behind. The Indian bowlers,who looked at their threatening best against the Kiwis on Friday,struggled against the Lankan onslaught. Jayasuriya fell two short of a well-deserved hundred but Kandamby launched a brutal assault in the late overs to push their teams total past the 300-run mark. Kandambys innings was laced with 11 boundaries and came off a mere 73 balls.
