Sachin Tendulkar struck a masterful 113 as India comfortably beat Sri Lanka by 63 runs in the final triangular series group match on Thursday. Tendulkar hit a six and 12 fours in what was his 33rd one-day international century, as India put on 304 for their fourth victory in six group matches. Earlier results had already dictated that India would meet England in Saturday's final at Lord's, but this did not affect the competitive nature of this day-night encounter. SCOREBOARD India S.Ganguly run out (Silva) 9 V.Sehwag run out (Fernando) 39 D.Mongia b Samaraweera 48 S.Tendulkar c Chandana b Vaas 113 R.Dravid lbw b Chandana 13 Yuvraj Singh lbw b Samaraweera 8 M.Kaif c Silva b Zoysa 41 Harbhajan Singh run out (Jayasuriya) 0 Z.Khan b Fernando 0 A.Nehra b Fernando 3 T. Yohannan not out 5 Extras (lb-6 w-12 nb-7) 25; Total (all out, 50 overs) 304 Fall of wickets: 1-32 2-73 3-172 4-199 5-210 6-284 7-286 8-288 9-296 Bowling: Vaas 10-0-64-1, Zoysa 10-0-66-1, Fernando 10-1-55-2, Chandana 8-0-44-1, Jayasuriya 2-0-14-0, Jayawardene 2-0-16-0, Samaraweera 8-0-39-2 Sri Lanka S.Jayasuriya lbw b Khan 5 M.Atapattu run out (Yuvraj Singh) 53 K.Sangakkara st Dravid b Harbhajan Singh 66 M.Jayawardene c Nehra b Yuvraj Singh 31 N.Zoysa c Mongia b Ganguly 8 R.Arnold run out (Kaif) 8 C.Silva st Dravid b Harbhajan Singh 30 T.Samaraweera b Harbhajan Singh 15 U.Chandana c Nehra b Harbhajan Singh 1 C.Vaas not out 4 D.Fernando run out (Mongia) 4 Extras (b-1 lb-4 w-5 nb-6) 16; Total (all out, 44.1 overs) 241; FOW: 1-11 2-96 3-160 4-165 5-171 6-188 7-210 8-221 9-233 Bowling: Nehra 7-0-28-0, Khan 8.1-0-53-1, Yohannan 5-0-39-0, Ganguly 10-0-40-1, Harbhajan Singh 10-0-46-4, Yuvraj Singh 2-0-12-1, Mongia 1-0-8-0, Sehwag 1-0-10-0 Result: India won by 63 runs. While India were looking for a confidence-boosting performance after their 64-run loss to England on Tuesday, Sri Lanka were hoping to salvage some pride from a disappointing series that has seen them lose five out of six games. Their chances of improving that record dipped when they lost inspirational captain Sanath Jayasuriya in just the second over. But Marvan Atapattu (53) and Kumar Sangakkara (66) put on 85 for the second wicket as Sri Lanka set about the run chase with relish. Sangakkara was stumped by Rahul Dravid in the 13th over off the bowling of Harbhajan Singh, but Mahela Jayawardene then proved a useful ally for Atapattu as they shared in a 64-run stand. Their partnership came to an end when Jayawardene was caught by Ashish Nehra in the 26th over. The 28th over proved a turning point in the match as Sri Lanka lost two wickets. Atapattu - who passed 5,000 international one-day runs when he reached 48 - was run out by Yuvraj Singh, while Nuwan Zoysa (8) was caught by Dinesh Mongia off the bowling of captain Saurav Ganguly. Although Thilan Samaraweera (30) kept the scoreboard ticking over for Sri Lanka, their tailend was unable to put up much resistance and they were bowled out for 241 with over five overs to spare. Harbhajan Singh was the pick of the Indian attack, taking four wickets in 10 overs at the cost of 46 runs. PLUNDERED ATTACK Earlier, Tendulkar had plundered the Sri Lankan attack after Ganguly had elected to bat. Two needless run-outs had threatened to undermine India's early progress. Ganguly (9) was the first to fall as he attempted a second run and Virender Sehwag was left stranded after making a quickfire 39. Sehwag had shared a second-wicket partnership of 41 with Dinesh Mongia when he set off for a quick single that saw him run out by a direct hit from Dilhara Fernando. But Tendulkar and Mongia shared a third-wicket stand of 99 to put their side on course for their imposing total. Mongia (48) was bowled by Samaraweera and although Dravid and Yuvraj Singh fell cheaply, Tendulkar and Mohammad Kaif added another 74 at a rate of more than a run per ball. It was Tendulkar's second 100 of the tournament and his seventh in one-dayers against Sri Lanka. He has now scored 14 more one-day international centuries than any other player in history. He was finally out caught at third man by Upul Chandana, but Kaif's 41 put India within sight of 300 before he was well caught by Chamara Silva at deep square leg. The victory left India top of the group table, with England second and Sri Lanka bottom.
