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Dilshan falls after fluent half-century



25 overs Sri Lanka 100 for 3 (Mathews 18*, Kapugedera 0*, Dilshan 61) v India
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Tillakaratne Dilshan showed signs of returning to form and pushed Sri Lanka to 100 for 3 at the end of 25 overs in Bulawayo. It was an interesting first half of the play. The overnight rains meant the pitch had enough moisture in it to help both the seamers and spinners. The medium-pacers got just enough movement and also exploited the two-paced nature of the wicket and the spinners found generous turn to keep the batsmen quiet.

The situation demanded that the batsmen show self restraint and Dilshan did exactly that to slowly shake off his poor form. It wasn't the Dilshan that we have come to know. He hit his first boundary off his 35th ball and it wasn't until his 50th delivery that he chose to rush down the track to play one a big shot. It was his abstinence against the new ball that really stood out. There weren't many flamboyant on-the-up hits, dashes down the track and attempts to force the pace. He did try to play couple of aggressive shots against the new ball but when he found that he was mis-timing them, he quickly changed tack and started to work the angles.

Dilshan broke free against a slower one from Ashok Dinda in the tenth over and started to find his fluency. He chose to play close to the body against the spinners - Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra. He used his feet to either go back or fully forward to drive and punch the spinners. He lifted Ojha for a massive six over long on and cut the errant Ravindra Jadeja for couple of successive fours in the 22nd over.

It was all looking good for Sri Lanka but Dilshan ran himself out in the 24th over to allow India to come back into the game. He turned Mishra to midwicket and hesitated before deciding to go for the single but couldn't beat the throw from Rohit Sharma.

Additionally, there was further drama, a touch comic in nature, when novice captain Suresh Raina forgot to tell the umpires that he wanted to take the bowling Powerplay after the tenth over though he had a field set that met the requirements of the Powerplay. He realised his error later much to the amusement of Dilshan and the bewilderment of his team-mates and took the Powerplay in the 18th over. It didn't turn out to be a costly mistake as this pitch demanded that the fielding captain attack with close-set fields.