Kaif, Yuvraj fashion second win

India vs Sri Lanka
The Oval
Game Three - Scorecard

Maybe, there is something about England that gets the best out of Indians. Today was not different for Mohammad Kaif, who did not get a chance to join in the Indian batting party against England at Lord's on Saturday. The youngster conjured up a 55-run partnership with Yuvraj Singh to script India's second consecutive victory in the NatWest Tri-Series.

India chased 203 and beat Sri Lanka by four wickets, with more that four overs to spare, to head the table with eight points from two wins.

The jaunty Indian supporters, spurred by the thrilling win at Lord's the previous evening flocked The Oval for an encore performance against Sri Lanka. The Indian team though seemed more cautious in their celebrations, guarding against their tendency to relax after a good win.

The schedule for the triangular series has been rather unfairly chalked out, with India and Sri Lanka slated to play back-to-back games while hosts England enjoy the comfort of no less than a day's rest between their matches.

The Indian squadron though showed no signs of fatigue as they sliced through the Lankans with a rejuvenated verve, dismissing them for 202 for 8 in their stipulated 50 overs.

India tweaked their selection goof-up against England by bringing in their third seamer, left-armer Ashish Nehra, for Harbhajan Singh, who had a rather listless day, while Lanka played a batsman short, dropping Kumara Sangakkara and opting for seamer Charitha Buddhika.

The floodgates opened for Lanka, who won the toss and opted to bat, in the second over of their innings when opener Romesh Kaluwitharana dispatched a half volley from Zaheer Khan to the extra-cover fence. Skipper Sanath Jayasuriya slashed a widish short delivery for six over third man as Khan conceded 13 runs in his first over.

SL innings progress
Overs	Runs scored	Total	Wkts
10	54	54	1
20	30	84	3
30	23	107	1
40	39	146	1
50	56	202	2

After Zaheer's first three overs cost 27 runs, skipper Ganguly swapped him for Ajit Agarkar and started the first of many crucial bowling changes. Kaluwitharana swiped at his first delivery and found a thick edge settle into Dravid's gloves. Lanka lost their first wicket in the eighth over with 42 on the board.

Agarkar, juiced by his early success, set-up Jayasuriya, greeting him on his 33rd birthday with a couple of short deliveries. Jayasuriya slashed at another snorter, got a thick edge and Dravid -- on a high after his match-winning knock yesterday -- brought off a great catch, stretching high up in the air to his left. The wicket also registered scalp number 150 for Agarkar in one-dayers.

Ganguly then brought back Zaheer for Nehra and Marvan Atapattu prodded at a delivery, dragging it on to his stumps as two wickets fell in the space of four balls. The Lankan innings seemed to have dwindled after a breezy start at 65 for 3.

Another Agarkar-Dravid combine saw the back of Russel Arnold, as the Lankans were baffled by the swing and rhythm of Agarkar at 78 for 4.

India saw half the Lankan side dismissed before the halfway stage, when Naveed Nawaz, struggling on the international arena, guided a Ganguly delivery to first slip fielder, Sehwag.

The Indian seamers had forced the Lankan batting decay, with the top five of the six batsmen gathering 75 runs between them. Ganguly himself filled in the fifth bowler's slot commendably, giving just 28 in his 10 overs and bagging Nawaz's wicket.

Mahela Jayawardene combined with tenacious leg-spinner Upul Chandana and kept picking up the singles avoiding any further damages. The Indian bowlers picked their lengths well and displayed rare discipline. Such was their dominance that between the 16th and the 32nd over Chandana-Jayawardene managed a mere 32 runs.

In the 39th over, Ganguly pulled off yet another success with his bowling change when he brought back Nehra. Chandana tried to pull a short ball, which climbed on him, and taking the splice of the bat, ballooned in the air. Mohammed Kaif, at mid-off, darted in and dived at the ball in front of him to complete a great catch. (140 for 6)

In the 42nd over, Jayawardene guided Agarkar to the third-man boundary to register his half-century - an innings that epitomized courage in adversity. He, however, failed to fire in the final overs, fooled by a slower delivery, offering a tame catch to Zaheer off his own bowling. (182-7)

Nuwan Zoysa was the next Lankan wicket to fall, trying to pull Zaheer Khan and Kaif his second catch of the match at short mid-wicket. (186-8)

Vaas swung lustily at the bowling in the dying overs of the innings, getting Lanka past the 200-run mark.

It was a superlative bowling performance by the Indian seamers but, more importantly, an even better fielding performance. India has finally started doing their basics right - something coach John Wright has been trying to imbibe in the dressing room; of keeping it simple, not simplistic.

Indian innings:

In the 33rd over, India lost its fifth wicket when Sachin Tendulkar, one short of his half-century, trying to run Zoysa down to third man, got a feather edge to the keeper.

A game that until then seemed India's for the taking suddenly sat wide open.

India required a further 68 to reach the target of 203, with two youngsters, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif, at the crease.

India's reply to the small total started on the wrong note when Chaminda Vaas trapped Ganguly (7) plumb in front in the third over. (17 for 1)

Sri Lanka seamers Vaas and Zoysa peppered the Indian batsmen with a lot of short-pitched stuff. Dinesh Mongia, who walked in at Ganguly's dismissal, took a few on his ribs as the runs dried up for India.

Giving in to his impatience, Sehwag danced down the wicket and drove uppishly at Vaas, managing to offer Jayasuriya at mid-off the simplest of catches. At 26 for 2, Sri Lanka weren't ready to give it away just yet.

Tendulkar walked out to join Mongia and make up for yesterday's meek dismissal, and got off the mark with a boundary, signaling his intentions without a trace of subtlety.

Mongia, growing in confidence, played an audacious square cut that darted into the boundary boards in Dilhara Fernando's first over. In the very next over, swivelling a complete 180 degrees, the southpaw pulled Zoysa over the square-leg boundary for a six.

The innings gained impetus and the Indian festival was on at the Oval as Tendulkar hooked Fernando into the countryside for a six.

But Dinesh Mongia (33), misjudging a Fernando climbing delivery, attempted the pull, got a top-edge and Chaminda Vaas at fine leg did the rest. The 71-run partnership for the third-wicket had set the tone for an Indian win though 106 runs still separated India from their second win in the triangular. (97 for 3)

Ind innings progress
Overs	Runs scored	Total	Wkts
10	42	42	2
20	54	96	0
30	23	119	2
40	57	176	1
45.2	27	203	1

The Lankans gripped the game by drying up the runs, with Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar struggling to play the prodigious leg-spin of Upul Chandana. Dravid, looking to up the tempo, charged down the track to drive the ball, only managing to hit it on his pads and watch it roll on to dislodge the bails. Having scored a mere 8 runs off 26 balls, Dravid's dismissal in the 28th over made it imperative that Tendulkar stay till the end to see the match through.

That didn't happen though and eventually it was Lord's hero Yuvraj Singh with Mohammed Kaif who were left to finish the game off.

Kaif walked in and pulled Zoysa to the mid-wicket fence for a superb boundary, releasing the pressure valve off the team. With that hit India crossed the 150-run mark and India required exactly 50 runs.

Flushing away their anxieties, the duo set about pushing the ball around for singles and smashing the bad deliveries to the fence. A volley from Upul Chandana was sent to the mid-on fence, and Chaminda Vaas was pulled off the front foot for another four.

Yuvraj added 55 runs with Kaif and brought the target down to 8 before Yuvraj -- in the 43rd over -- mistimed a pull and was caught in the deep by substitute fielder Chamara Silva for another crucial innings of 31.

Mohammad Kaif, with a 44-ball 38, then ambled through for a single to square-leg to essay yet another win for India by four wickets.