Yuvraj Singh batted his way out of a form slump to score a scintillating half century as India returned to winning ways with a vengeance, thrashing Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the sixthone-dayer today.
After bundling out the visitors for a modest 196 in 42.5 overs with a disciplined bowling performance, Yuvraj stole the limelight with a 67-ball unbeaten 79 to steer the Indians home with 15.1 overs to spare and give the hosts a 5-1 lead in the seven-match series.
It was yet another commendable performance by the rejuvinated Indians as they thoroughly outplayed the islanders in all departments of the game, rendering the contest into a lop-sided affair.
While Yuvraj emerged as the batting hero by notching up his 19th ODI half century, young paceman Rudra Pratap Singh also had his moment of glory as he returned with career-best figures of4-35 to wreck the Sri Lankan innings on a good track at the Madhavrao Scindia Stadium.
Mohammad Kaif, returning to the team after sitting out the first five matches because of an injury, showed no signs of rustiness as he slammed an unbeaten 38 while Gautam Gambhir (28), Virender Sehwag (22) and Sachin Tendulkar (19) could not manage to convert the starts into big knocks.
The two teams will now travel to Baroda for the last match of the series to be held on Saturday.
Yuvraj, having aggregated only 45 in four innings so far in the series, answered his critics in his inimitable style cracking an unbeaten 79 that contained three sixes and nine fours. He added 105 runs with Kaif for the fourth wicket.