Lanka finish the job this time

The first thing that greets Tillakaratne Dilshan when he opens his kit-box is the poster of a lion with the legend When The Lion Roars emblazoned on it....

The first thing that greets Tillakaratne Dilshan when he opens his kit-box is the poster of a lion with the legend When The Lion Roars emblazoned on it. The picture also carries a one-word caption in bold letters consistency.

Over the last one-and-a-half months,the aggressive 34-year-old Sri Lankan opener has been their most prolific batsman. But despite having scored three big centuries on the tour before Friday,he has been overshadowed every single time. If it was team mate Mahela Jayawardenes 275 during the Ahmedabad Test,Dilshans fighting century in the third Test was almost forgotten after Virender Sehwags blitzy 293. Even his valiant 160 wasnt good enough at Rajkot as Sri Lanka fell three runs short,and Sehwag walked away with the honours again.

Though the visitors did experience a few jitters towards the end of their chase on Friday,Dilshan finally got to hog the limelight as Sri Lanka leveled the ODI series 1-1,winning by three wickets,thanks mainly to his fourth ton of the tour a 113-ball 123 at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium. In the process,he also managed to eclipse Mahendra Singh Dhonis sixth ODI century,which had guided India past the 300-run mark earlier in the day.

Always difficult

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Sri Lanka may have come close to overhauling the 415-run target on Tuesday,but chasing 302 was going to be as difficult under lights. Dilshan started off in customary fashion in tandem with Upul Tharanga,providing the team with yet another flying start,bringing up the 100 in the 14th over of the innings,as Dilshan raced to his fifty in 31 balls with nine fours and a six.

The Lankans were pegged back after that by the fall of two quick wickets in the middle overs,but Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene steadied the innings until Dilshan raised his century before hitting Ashish Nehra for two consecutive boundaries to announce that he was breaking the shackles. Nehra,however,returned to provide a sudden ray of hope to India with a perfect yorker that darted through Dilshans defence.

Zaheer Khan then found second wind with three late wickets,and another Sri Lankan chase seemed to be headed in the wrong direction. But all-rounder Angelo Mathews,who almost took his team home at Rajkot,kept his nerve despite being forced to use a runner,and dragged his team home with five balls to spare. He finished on an invaluable 25-ball 37.

Surprising start

Earlier,the day got off to a surprising start as an unexpected cloud cover dominated the morning sky in Nagpur. While the bowlers would have arrived at the VCA Stadium expecting a glimmer,Sehwag seemed to end their hopes by caressing the first ball to the boundary. But not only did Chanaka Welegedara get rid off the opener,he and Mathews finally seemed to be having their say.

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But as the ball started to lose its shine,it began to hit the middle of the bat more often and Sachin Tendulkar,who now completed 20 years in ODI cricket,and Virat Kohli looked set to dominate. It was Dhoni,however,who once again emerged as Indias hero,scoring his second consecutive ton at the VCA Stadium. Suresh Raina,who missed out in Rajkot,chipped in with a 55-ball 68.

But in the end,as a hush fell over the packed VCA Stadium after Mathews hit Ravindra Jadeja for the winning runs,it finally proved to be Dilshans day.