Yuvraj Singh struck a mature half-century to guide India to a competitive 256-9 against Sri Lanka in the second one-dayer here on Saturday.Yuvraj top-scored with 66 off 88 balls and stitched together a 85-run fourth wicket partnership with Suresh Raina (29) to stabilise the Indian innings after the first three wickets fell within 13 overs.Virender Sehwag (42) was his usual aggressuve self at the top of the order but the Indians were hit hard by some dubious umpiring decisions, Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh being at the receiving end.Spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan Murali, who needs two wickets to become the highest wicket-taker in the ODIs, returned empty-handed and Ajantha Mendis managed only two tail-enders.Both Yuvraj and Sachin Tendulkar (six) were ruled leg before wicket though the television replays showed that they were distinctly unlucky.Yuvraj was ruled leg before wicket when he got on the back foot to work a Nuwan Kalusekara delivery towards square leg. The umpire failed to spot a big inside edge onto Yuvraj's pads and, though he took some time, ended up raising his finger to leave everyone surprised and Yuvraj distraught.Yuvraj smashed seven hits to the fence and a towering six during his stint in the middle.
The visitors suffered a big jolt early in the innings when Sachin Tendulkar got a dubious leg before decision, the second time in succession.Tendulkar was sent back to pavilion as early as in the third over when he was trapped leg before wicket by Kalusekara. Tendulkar tried to play the ball towards square leg, but replays suggested the ball might have missed leg.Thereafter, Sehwag and Gambhir went on rampage but were both removed before the 10th over.Gambhir got off to a cracking start as Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene also took out one of the slips but the Delhi batsman's stint was cut short by Ferveez Maharoof. Maharoof tricked Gambhir by angling the delivery acrossthe stumps which the Indian tried to send towards third man and outside edged the ball which landed in the hands of wicketkeeper Kumara Sangakkara. Gambhir made 27 runs in 28 balls and hit four boundaries.Sehwag followed his Delhi team mate as he tried to score a third run off a Thilan Thushara delivery in the 13th over. Sehwag hit a superb shot towards long-on. Murali chased the ball from mid-on and relayed it to Sanath Jayasuriya whose accurate throw to the non-striker's end got the host rid of Sehwag.Yuvraj and Raina batted cautiously at start of their stints and steadied the innings. Yuvraj played Mendis' carrom ball with ease and hit quite a few bounaries besides a six over long-off while Raina also looked at his best before falling prey to Thilakratne Dilshan.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni guarded one end for almost 15 overs and scored just 23 runs before being caught by Sangakkara off Maharoof.So far an ineffective Mendis made his presence felt by scalping Zaheer Khan (17) and Prveen Kumar (15) on the last two balls of the innings.
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