India won the third one-dayer against Sri Lanka at the Nehru Stadium in Goato level the four-match series 1-1.
Chasing 231 to win, India romped home with five wickets in hand and 21 ballsto spare.
The Indian chase was anchored by an aggressive start provided by SouravGanguly (48) despite the fall of Virender Sehwag (12), Sachin Tendulkar (1) andYuvraj Singh (21) without much contribution.
That was followed by a scintillating 133-run partnership between skipperRahul Dravid (66) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (67 not out).
Dravid, needing 22 runs at the start of his 309th ODI, became the sixthplayer in the world and the third from India after Tendulkar and Ganguly toreach the 10,000-run landmark.
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The skipper hit four fours and a six in his 83-ball knock before he wasunfortunately run out by backing up too far when Dhoni's drive was deflected onto the stumps by leg spinner Malinga Bandara with India needing just four runsfor victory.
Dhoni struck four fours while remaining unconquered after facing 74 balls andthe winning hit came from Dinesh Kaarthick, a straight drive off NuwanKulasekara in the 47th over.
Dravid and Dhoni ensured that the mistakes made by the home team at Rajkot,where they lost by five runs from a winning position, were not repeated.
The duo's crucial partnership brought up in a calm and assured manner helpedIndia recover from a wobbly 94 for four in the 22nd over and win in front of avery noisy and capacity crowd of 30,000.
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Earlier, Zaheer Khan blasted out the Sri Lankan top order in a sensationalopening spell when he had 3-4 in his first three overs. He then returned in theclosing stages to pick two more for his first ever five-wicket haul.
The visitors, like in the previous match, had a disastrous start when theywere reduced to 6-3 and then 91-5 before recovering through a stout performancefrom the middle order.
Russel Arnold played a vital role in Sri Lanka's fightback with an unbeaten66 from 83 balls and shared a 89-run partnership for the sixth wicket withTilekaratne Dilshan.
Captain Mahela Jayawardene combined with his predecessor Marvan Atapattu torepair the early damage by adding 76 runs for the fourth wicket.
Harbhajan Singh chipped in with 2-37 while Kumar Sangakkara, centurion atRajkot, was out for a four-ball duck.
In the afternoon, the Indian run-chase commenced on a poor note whenunder-fire Sehwag, promoted to open the innings after flopping in the middleorder at Rajkot, again flattered to deceive.
After hitting three fours off the meat of the bat, the Delhi batsman, who thecaptain feels is just one innings away from finding his touch, succumbed to hisold failing to the short ball from Dilhara Fernando which he fended awkwardlyand ballooned to Dilshan at point.
Worse was to follow for the home team when Tendulkar, who scored 100 not outand 54 in his two previous ODI innings, failed to prosper.
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He dragged a ball on to his stumps when trying to drive Kulasekara and Indiawere reduced to 35 for two after five overs, 13 of which had come in the firstover from Farvez Maharoof who bowled four wides and was hit for two boundariesby Sehwag.
Ganguly looked once again in good touch and was hitting the ball fluently aswickets fell at the other end.
The Bengal stalwart square drove Maharoof for two successive fours in thebowler's second over to banish him from the attack after a two-over spell.
He also got involved in the revival of the innings with another left-handerYuvraj, playing his first match of the series after recovering from back spasms,and the third wicket duo added 48 runs during the power plays in 11.3 overs.
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Yuvraj started well, striking two fours off Fernando with a turn off his legsand an off drive but fell to the pace bowler when trying to flick the ball andonly put up a tame catch to mid-on as the ball stopped on him a bit. He made 21in 31 balls and hit four fours.
When the power plays ended, India were 90 for three with Ganguly four shortof his second successive fifty of the series while captain Dravid was on four.The hosts needed 141 off the last 30 overs at the end of the field restrictions.
The introduction of leg-spinner Malinga Bandara brought about the formercaptain's downfall. He was trapped leg before on the sweep shot.
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Ganguly struck six fours in his 71-ball innings and had one lucky escape whenon 31, with Bandara failing to latch on to a difficult chance at covers when thebatsman drove Kulasekara.
At 94 for four, India looked wobbly but Dravid batted superbly and in thecompany of Dhoni, who eschewed risks, took the score past the 150 mark by the34th over.
The Indian captain once struck Kulasekara for three fours in successiveballs. The sudden aggression brought down the asking rate in the 31st over whenthings were getting a bit tight.
PTI
