Lanka set sights on final as they take on Bangladesh

Dambulla: Defending champions Sri Lanka will look to crush a beleaguered Bangladesh and enhance their chances of making the Asia Cup final when the two sides clash here on Thursday.
Four-time champions Lanka, who defeated Pakistan by 16 runs in their first outing on Tuesday, need one more victory to virtually qualify for the June 24 summit clash.
For Bangladesh, tomorrow's clash has become a do-or-die contest as they are coming into the match after a six-wicket defeat against India and one more drubbing would be enough to spell their ouster.
Given their potential and the advantage of playing in home conditions, Sri Lanka are not likely to be troubled by Shakib Al Hasan's team.
Their bowlers, especially paceman Lasith Malinga are in superb form and a formidable batting line up makes them an outright favourite against the Asian minnows.
Considering that they are in the process of building the nucleus of their side for the 2011 World Cup, the defending champions would be tempted to play Suraj Randiv instead of the wily Muttiah Muralitharan, who was savaged by Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi the other day.
Muralitharan bled 71 runs from his 10 overs, conceding as many as five sixes to Afridi, who made a blistering 76-ball 109, his first ODI century in four years.
Lanka could also possibly seek a change for Farveez Maharoof who looked far from impressive on his comeback.
He failed with both ball and bat, apart from struggling to come down on the ball in the outfield.
While Kumar Sangakarra has only these aspects to look into, his Bangladesh counterpart has far too many issues to address.
Not surprisingly Shakib Al Hasan has called on his boys to perform as a unit.
"We played well as individuals but not as a team. That is an area we need to improve on a lot," Shakib had said after Bangladesh's six-wicket defeat against India.
Emphasising on the need to unite and perform as a team, a visibly perturbed Shakib said, "We need to climb one step ahead and put team performances together, only then can we win some games. That is the main area we have to concentrate on."
Shakib was happy with the performance of his openers, but was dissatisfied with the middle order batsmen who struggled against the Indian spinners.

Bangladesh seek to change the pattern

Don't say it aloud. Just whisper. You don't want to scare a Bangladesh fan. What if Tamim Iqbal's form runs out? Or worse what if he is dragged down by the mediocrity that surrounds him? It's the scariest thought for a Bangladesh fan. They are used to unanswerable questions though. Sample these: How long will Mohammad Ashraful continue to waste his opportunities? How long will Bangladesh continue to squander good starts? When will the captain Shakib Al Hasan temper his batting approach? Is Mahmudullah already taking a back step when he should have built on his strengths that he showed when India toured Bangladesh? Has Mushfiqur Rahim joined the rest in flattering to deceive?

Shakib knows where the problem lies: "We played well as individuals but not as a team... put team performances together, only then can we win some games." Is it a matter of skill? Is it a matter of passion? On their best day, Bangladeshi players seem to posses both in ample measure: they can stun and woo you with their brand of play but their their best days don't come often enough. Or is it a matter of blind expectations? Should we accept their mediocrity as a fact and move on? Surely not. Take that first game against India. 81 for 1 to 167 all out. Surely, Shakib, Rahim, Mahmudulah, Ashraful, and Naeem Islam can do better than that? Of course if it was just one bad day, there wouldn't be any problem but this is the pattern now. You can almost hear the dirge once the openers fall. Will they stop the rot and begin the change against Sri Lanka?

Sri Lanka seems to have just one problem: Chamara Kapugedera. An average of 21.66 from 74 games reeks of underperformance. The beauty is that no one in the Sri Lankan cricketing fraternity doubts his talent. That six against Brett Lee, and that six off the last ball against India in the World Twenty20 will be mentioned but the fact of the matter is that many new players are gunning for his spot. It was Thillina Kandamby for a while but he too couldn't hold his spot. However the young Dinesh Chandimal has already done what Kapugedera couldn't: get an ODI ton. This Asia Cup might be the last great chance for Kapugedera.

Form guide (most recent first)

Bangladesh LLLLL
Sri Lanka WWLWW

Watch out for...

Mushfiqur Rahim is the pluckiest cricketer in Bangladesh. Tamim has the more audacious talent, Shakib the captaincy, Mashrafe the aura but it's young, diminutive and talkative Rahim that is the life and soul of the team. He is not entirely dissimilar to Tatendu Taibu and has the skill to be a pretty handy no. 4 batsman. Will he make that spot his own?

Farveez Maharoof bowled just couple of bad deliveries against Pakistan. Both came in his first over. He very quickly learnt that short of length was the region to bowl and did exactly that. On these pitches he should be a pretty handy bowler. With a short cover and short midwicket prowling, he can force a batsman to drive early. He is the bowler in this current line-up that the opposition are most likely to attack, and he has the ability to make them pay for the arrogance.

Team news

Despite the meek showing against India, Bangladesh are unlikely to change their eleven going into their second game. Sri Lanka ticked in perfect harmony against Pakistan and could look to retain their combination. Kandamby will hope to get a chance at the expense of Thilan Samaraweera or Kapugedera.

Bangladesh (possible) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Mohammad Ashraful, 4 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Naeem Islam, 8 Shafiul Islam, 9 Rubel Hossain, 10 Mashrafe Mortaza, 11 Syed Rasel

Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt/wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Thilan Samaraweera, 7 Chamara Kapugedera, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Farveez Maharoof, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.

Stats and trivia

• Sri Lanka have won 26 of their 28 games against Bangladesh. The two losses came in Bangladesh. Furthermore, Sri Lanka have won 18 of their 25 games at Dambulla.
• Bangladesh's best batsman Tamim Iqbal averages just 19 .80 from 10 games against Sri Lanka. The strike rate is also poor at 63.50 and he has just hit one fifty.

Spinners set up India's victory

Bangladesh may have moved from the cool climes of England to hot and humid Sri Lanka, but they don't seem to have left at customs the habit of wasting scintillating starts by the openers. They collapsed twice, from 81 for 1 to 100 for 4, and then losing their last six wickets for 12 runs. If the first setback was mostly self-inflicted, Virender Sehwag's canny spin bowling for 4 for 6 ran through the lower order. In reply, Gautam Gambhir didn't look a million dollars, but made a satisfactory return to the side, seeing India through to a bonus point with 82.

Sehwag's 17-ball effort was joint second-cheapest four-wicket haul in ODIs, behind Phil Simmons' 4 for 3 against Pakistan in 1992. Before that, though, Bangladesh displayed a few of their usual failings. Not surprisingly it all began with Mohammad Ashraful.

Imrul Kayes and Tamim Iqbal, as they did through the England tour, got Bangladesh off to a flier. They treated Praveen Kumar and Zaheer Khan with contempt at the top of the innings. Cut, drive, the odd edge, and 35 were up in the third over. Tamim then got carried away and hit at one he wasn't close enough to. Suresh Raina came up with a diving catch, but Kayes carried on the good work.

It was impressive that, though he was beaten consistently in the next two Zaheer overs, Kayes kept his head, ending a spell of 11 straight dots from Zaheer with a punched boundary. Runs slowed down, mostly because Ashraful exaggeratedly kept leaving deliveries outside off. There was not much in the pitch or the bowling, and Ashraful's over-cautious approach hurt Bangladesh. There was not one single taken in the first 10 overs.

Kayes kept Bangladesh going with back-to-back boundaries off Nehra in the 12th over, but Ashraful was about to make his inevitable mistake. Soon after he managed one boundary, he went straight from the first gear to the fifth, heaving Nehra straight to the only man on the square-leg boundary. Kayes made his mistake in Nehra's next over, being too slow in pulling a sharp bouncer. Shakib Al Hasan got a wicked straighter one from Harbhajan Singh, which could well have been intended to be an offbreak.

The pitch had started offering turn now, and Harbhajan and Ravindra Jadeja were tough to get away. From 100 for 4, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah, both of whom survived close lbw calls, took Bangladesh to 155, when madness struck again. Jadeja finally got his reward with a flat delivery that caught Mahmudullah's edge.

Immediately after, Sehwag was introduced. He bowled with lovely flight, slight drift, and mixed the straighter ones well. Mushfiqur bat-padded a flighted delivery that jumped at him from outside off. MS Dhoni saw that, and brought on Rohit Sharma too, who got a lucky break, with Naeem Islam given out caught-behind when it seemed the noise came from his bat hitting the ground.

In the next over Sehwag destroyed the tail. Suhrawadi Shuvo was fooled by the straighter one, Shafiul Islam swept all over an offbreak, and Syed Rasel was castled by another straighter one. Sehwag still had one ball left in what could have been a three-wicket maiden. Dhoni's choice of ends for bowlers was good: with a wind blowing across the ground, Sehwag and Harbhajan bowled from ends where they could get drift.

India looked good for a bonus point for most parts of their reply, except for a few anxious moments when Shakib removed Virat Kohli and Rohit in two deliveries to reduce India to 80 for 3. It would have amounted to something for Bangladesh had Tamim at third man hung on to a simple offering from Gambhir, a blow that would have made it 93 for 4. It could well have been the inadequate flood lighting that Lasith Malinga spoke about at work.

That drop apart, Gambhir batted well, working hard, running hard, putting behind the occasional play-and-miss, and scoring mainly through nurdles and chips. Along with Virender Sehwag, he provided India a brisk start. India were 37 in the seventh over when Sehwag edged one outside off.

Gambhir then settled down for a hard-working innings in hot and humid conditions, and Mashrafe Mortaza and Syed Rasel did their bit in making him work hard. His most flashy shot of the innings was when he danced down the track and drove Mortaza through the covers to reach 21 off 27, taking India to 46 in the ninth over. Post the supper break, Shafiul Islam and Shakib too kept the batsmen honest.

After Shakib's double blow in the 15th over, Gambhir nearly let Bangladesh back in when he played a weak upper-cut off Shafiul. Tamim got under it, but never looked confident during that drop. Gambhir was 48 then. By the time he finally got out, India needed just 10, with nearly 20 overs to go.

Asia Cup: India aim to end 15-year title drought

Dambulla: A rejuvenated India would aim to redeem their tarnished pride and end a 15-year-old jinx when they start their Asia Cup cricket campaign against Bangladesh at the Rangiri Dambulla ground here on Wednesday.
Hurting from their debacles in the ICC World Twenty20 (West Indies) and the tri-series in Zimbabwe, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men would be desperate to win back the confidence of fans after being accused of being more loyal to their IPL teams than the country.
The Asia Cup title, which they last won in 1995, will be the perfect balm to calm frayed nerves and bury the ghosts of the recent past.
Unlike in the West Indies and Zimbabwe, India have a near full-strength team to achieve what they have set out for.
Except for Sachin Tendulkar, who opted to spend time with his family, and Yuvraj Singh, dropped for poor form, India more or less have the nucleus of the 2011 World Cup team here.
Virender Sehwag's return provides the firepower to the batting which had been rudderless without substantial starts at the top of the order.
The Delhi marauder, who was nursing a shoulder injury, is arguably one of the most feared batsman in international cricket capable of demolishing any attack on his day. Dhoni would be looking forward to fireworks from his deputy to reignite the confidence of his beleaguered legion.
If Sehwag can provide a blistering start in the company of Gautam Gambhir, the rest of the batting, propped up by the youthful exuberance of Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should be capable of holding its own in the four-nation event.
Dhoni would also be itching to set the record straight, especially after his leadership was questioned in the immediate aftermath of the ICC World Twenty20. He might bat up the order, probably at four or five, depending on the start provided by the top-half.
If the batsmen conjure match-winning totals, the Indian bowling, which has been a subject of debate over the last six months, should be able to provide the results that the fans have longed for since the successful conquest against South Africa at home in March.
The new ball will be shared by Zaheer Khan, Asish Nehra and Praveen Kumar, who has been fortunate to regain his place in the side despite dismal performances in the past.
It augurs well that Zaheer, who was virtually on his haunches during the unsuccessful campaign in the Twenty20 World Cup after an enervating IPL, looks rearing to go following the break.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Pragyan Ojha should play the supporting cast to Harbhajan Singh in the spin department.
Though the four-time Asia Cup champions start favorites, they can't take Bangladesh lightly. Shakib-Ul Hasan's men have pulled off upsets in the past and could do so here as well.
"We want to improve every time we go on to the field and want to win games. We have the potential to win matches. Hopefully, we can some games here," said Shakib.
The teams (from):
India: M S Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Pragyan Ojha, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Asish Nehra, Ashok Dinda, Ravichandran Ashwin, Sourabh Tiwari.
Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Jahurul Islam, Junaid Siddique, Mohammad Ashraful, Mahmudullah, Mushrafe Mortaza, Naeem Islam, Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul islam, Suhrawadi Shuvo.

Malinga helps super Sri Lanka survive Afridi

Sri Lanka survived perhaps Shahid Afridi's finest innings and an impressive comeback from Shoaib Akhtar through some superb fielding and lovely bowling from Lasith Malinga. The batsmen before Afridi seemed either incompetent or uninterested, the batsmen with him seemed intent on running themselves out, his cramp-induced groans could be heard through the stump mic, he hobbled through the last 17 of his runs, and took Pakistan from 32 for 4 to within 39 of the target when Kumar Sangakkara produced a catch for the ages. Malinga, coming back into ODI cricket, then produced a lethal three-over spell inside the batting Powerplay to wipe the tail off much in the fashion Pakistanis are used to doing with others.

Full report to follow

On a night of comebacks, Lasith Malinga came up with a spell more sensational and robust than Shoaib Akhtar's, and Pakistan were reeling under the immense pressure put by Malinga and big-yet-accurate inswing from Nuwan Kulasekara. To make it even better for Sri Lanka, Angelo Mathews followed his invaluable fifty with back-to-back wickets to reduce Pakistan to 32 for 4 in the 14th over. Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal brought Pakistan back with a sensible and quick 73-run fifth-wicket stand, but Umar ran himself out in the 25th over to let Sri Lanka hold the clear advantage.

It was a perfect bowling start for Sri Lanka. Kulasekara played around with Shahzaib Hasan - all other bowlers would too - with inswingers and straighter ones in the first over. Malinga didn't torture Salman Butt for long: full outswinger, followed by a sharp bouncer, followed by another outswinger that crashed through the weak defence. Two debutants, Hasan and Umar Amin, then had little idea what to do.

Kulasekara didn't give anything away, only straying from his big inswingers to bowl the odd straight delivery outside off. Malinga brought more pace and variety, beating them more often, when Kulasekara was hard enough to face. Scoring was forgotten, pressure mounted fast as they edged and nudged to nine runs in seven overs. Malinga wanted more fun, following up a superb slower delivery with a sharp bouncer that took the big top edge to end Amin's misery.

Shoaib Malik brought some urgency, and Mathews a false sense of comfort in the batsmen's minds. Hasan whipped him over square leg for the first boundary of the innings, in the 10th over. Malik knew he had picked the wrong man when he charged at Mathews and could only edge the ball after the bowler had shortened the length and extracted extra bounce. Hasan, who scored 11 off 33, was a victim of the pressure he himself created, holing out to mid-on, off the bowling of Mathews.

Afridi then promoted himself and reminded the crowd that they were indeed trying to win the match, which hardly seemed the case when the top order was batting. He came out and just like that smacked the first two balls pitched up to him for sixes. Farveez Maharoof was at the receiving end, and learned his lesson fast: he hardly pitched anything up in the rest of his spell, and bowled some impressive cutters.

Afridi, though, put his head down for one of his responsible knocks, displaying discretion that he is hardly known for. There was a feeling Sri Lanka sat back and waited for the regulation mis-hit from Afridi, but he kept finding gaps for ones and twos. Umar joined in the process, using the big ground to their advantage. On nine occasions they managed to take couples during their important fifth-wicket stand. In a further exhibition of calculated hitting, he lofted Muttiah Muralitharan over his head for two sixes in two overs.

With cause for worry, Kumar Sangakkara brought Malinga back for the 25th over, and Umar set off for a suicidal single having defended straight to short cover. And Tillakaratne Dilshan is not the man to steal sharp singles off.

Asia Cup 2010 teams

INDIA
MS Dhoni (Captain)	RHB/WK
Virender Sehwag	RHB/OB
Gautam Gambhir	LHB
Virat Kohli	RHB/RM
Suresh Raina	LHB/OB
Rohit Sharma	RHB/OB
Ravindra Jadeja	LHB/SLA
Harbhajan Singh	RHB/OB
Praveen Kumar	RHB/RM
Zaheer Khan	RHB/LFM
Ashish Nehra	RHB/LMF
Pragyan Ojha	LHB/SLA
Ashok Dinda	RHB/RMF
R Ashwin	RHB/OB
Saurabh Tiwary	LHB
BANGLADESH Shakib Al Hasan (Captain) LHB/SLA Mushfiqur Rahim RHB/WK Abdur Razzak LHB/SLA Imrul Kayes LHB Jahurul Islam RHB/OB Junaid Siddique LHB/OB Mahmudullah RHB/OB Mashrafe Mortaza RHB/RMF Mohammad Ashraful RHB/OB Naeem Islam RHB/OB Rubel Hossain RHB/RMF Shafiul Islam RHB/RMF Suhrawadi Shuvo LHB/SLA Syed Rasel LHB/LMF Tamim Iqbal LHB

PAKISTAN
Shahid Afridi (Captain)	RHB/LB
Salman Butt	LHB
Imran Farhat	LHB/LB
Shahzaib Hasan	RHB/WK
Umar Akmal	RHB
Asad Shafiq	RHB/WK
Umer Amin	LHB/RFM
Abdul Razzaq	RHB/RFM
Shoaib Malik	RHB/OB
Mohammed Aamer	LHB/LFM
Mohammad Asif	RHB/RMF
Shoaib Akhtar	RHB/RF
Abdur Rehman	LHB/SLA
Saeed Ajmal	RHB/OB
Kamran Akmal	RHB/WK
Yawar Saeed - Manager
Waqar Younis - Coach

SRI LANKA Kumar Sangakkara (Captain) LHB/WK Muttiah Muralitharan RHB/OB Tillakaratne Dilshan RHB/OB Rangana Herath LHB/SLA Mahela Jayawardene RHB Suraj Randhiv RHB/OB Thilana Kandamby LHB/LB Chamara Kapugedera RHB Nuwan Kulasekara RHB/RMF Farveez Maharoof RHB/RMF Lasith Malinga RHB/RMF Angelo Mathews RHB/RMF Thilan Samaraweera RHB/OB Upul Tharanga LHB Chanaka Welegedara RHB/LMF

Asia Cup trophy

Zimbabwe vs India 2nd T20 Harare June 13 2010 Highlights

Super-charged Steyn leads South Africa to victory

Fast bowler Dale Steyn starred again as South Africa secured a 163-run victory over the West Indies in the opening Test on Sunday.

Steyn collected three wickets for 65 runs from 15.3 overs, as West Indies, chasing 457 for victory, were bowled out for 293, just before the rescheduled close on the fourth day at Queen's Park Oval.

The South African quick ended the match with figures of eight for 94 to earn the man-of-the-match award.

Steyn bowled Nelon Pascal off an inside edge for 10, when the West Indies tail-ender tried a flamboyant one-legged pull.

Morne Morkel supported Steyn with two for 49 from 12 overs, while left-arm spinner Paul Harris took two for 91 from 26.3 overs.

The victory gave the Proteas a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series, which continues on Friday in St. Kitts.

"Our bowlers were running on fumes there at the end, and it was not made any easier for us with them struggling with the run-ups from one end, and a soft landing," said South Africa captain Graeme Smith.

"It was another hot day, and we have had to work a little bit harder. The pitch was not conducive to really exciting Test match cricket. It was about a long, hard graft, and we did that well, and we have won in three and a half days, so I am happy."

The South Africans had declared on 206 for four in their second innings an hour and 20 minutes before lunch, after Smith had fallen for the top score of 90.

The Proteas then sweated through the remainder of the day to condemn West Indies to their third straight defeat at their hands at this ground, despite a top score of 73 from West Indies captain Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo's enterprising 49, and Sulieman Benn's entertaining 42.

"It's stating the obvious that our batting was again the main problem, and getting 102 in the first innings always put us on the back-foot," said Gayle.

"I thought we started the Test fairly well on the first day, but we allowed things to slip away on the second day, and things gradually got better for South Africa."

Steyn and Morkel made early inroads into the brittle West Indies batting before lunch, to keep the South Africans in the hunt.

Morkel removed opener Travis Dowlin for one, and Steyn snared Brendan Nash for 13, as West Indies reached 62 for two at the interval.

The Proteas were scenting victory when they removed Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Gayle, West Indies' two most accomplished batsmen, before tea, after the pair had put on 55 for the third wicket.

As he has done several times in the past, Jacques Kallis provided South Africa with the breakthrough, when he had Chanderpaul caught at second slip for 15 to leave West Indies 94 for three.

Morkel, using his height to gain extra bounce from the uneven pitch, trapped Gayle lbw with the second ball of a new spell.

The West Indies captain, whose 50 came from 62 balls when he whipped Lonwabo Tsotsobe through square leg for four, spent a little over two and a half hours at the crease, faced 106 balls, and struck nine fours and one six.

The South Africans continued to press their advantage before tea, but they lost their right to challenge umpiring decisions.

This followed confirmation from video umpire Simon Taufel that their appeal for the lbw of left-hander Narsingh Deonarine was misplaced, and the Australian umpire sparing Dwayne Bravo from another cheap surrender, with an inconclusive verdict for a bat-pad catch off Harris.

After tea, the Proteas were made to dig deep, when a few partnerships sprung up that almost broke their backs.

The most significant came very late, when the frontline bowlers were probably at their lowest ebb, and Benn added 66 for the eighth wicket with Shane Shillingford.

Smith turned to Alviro Petersen, and he gave South Africa the final push, when he trapped Benn lbw for his maiden Test wicket before Harris and Steyn finished things off.

Zimbabwe to return to Test cricket in 2011

Zimbabwe will make its Test cricket comeback with a home series against Bangladesh next May.

Zimbabwe withdrew from tests in January 2006 after being left depleted following confrontations between senior players and the Zimbabwe Cricket board.

Board chairman Peter Chingoka announced the return yesterday during a visit by International Cricket Council president David Morgan and chief executive Haroon Lorgat.

"We will resume our test commitments against Bangladesh at home in May 2011," Chingoka told The Associated Press.

"We will then have gradual progression afterwards by playing sides we think we can compete with, like West Indies and New Zealand."

Chingoka also told The AP that Cricket South Africa has offered Zimbabwe a one-off test every year, starting next year.

"We are indebted to Cricket South Africa for their continuous support," he said.

India finish off Zimbabwe tour with huge win

Harare, June 13: Skipper Suresh Raina led from the front with a blistering 72 as India signed off their Zimbabwe tour with a comprehensive seven-wicket win over the hosts in the second and final Twenty20 International here today. Chasing 141, India made 144 for three in 18 overs at the Harare Sports Club ground with Raina dispatching Chris Mpofu to boundary for the winning runs.
Tatenda Taibu earlier top-scored with 45 and shared a 43-run stand for the fourth wicket with Charles Coventry (28 off 13) to steer Zimbabwe to 140 for five. Raina stepped on to the field after the fall of Naman Ojha (10) in fifth over and stayed till the job was done.
Along with Murali Vijay (46), Raina shared a 79-run stand for the second wicket, which set up the second comfortable Indian win in as many days. Raina's 44-ball knock had six fours and two sixes in it.
After an ordinary show in the three-week tour, Vijay finally got some runs under his belt and the Chennai batsman would be relived after playing a good hand in the Indian win. Vijay and skipper Suresh Raina batted with ease and were hardly troubled by the host bowlers.
Vijay missed out on his half-century when he attempted a big shot but off Chamu Chibhabha and his checked shot landed in the hands of Graeme Cremer in the 15th over. Raina continued the good work and carried the team home just after losing another partner in Yusuf Pathan (4).
India's consecutive win, after a lacklustre show in the ODI tri-series, would do a world of good to the confidence of its youngsters just ahead of the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. Earlier, confident of chasing down whatever the hosts would put on board, Raina yet again invited the hosts to bat but despite having them in clutches they leaked too many runs in the second half to allow them a come back in the match.