India won the Compaq cup

India 319 for 5 (Tendulkar 138, Yuvraj 56*, Dhoni 56) beat Sri Lanka 273 (Kandamby 66, Harbhajan 5-57) by 46 runs
Scorecard by Cricinfo

The ghost of batting under the R Premadasa lights was almost buried tonight. Sachin Tendulkar's master class, an 86th international century which was not far from being his best, nearly became a footnote on a night of punches and counter-punches. Sri Lanka knew being ultra aggressive was the only way of going about this huge chase, and they counterattacked every time a wicket was lost. Thilina Kandamby, batting at No. 7, fell just short of pulling off a heist against India for the second time in his short career, as the early wickets had left him with too much to do.

Don't go by the 46-run margin. India's fielders and fast bowlers were rattled during the frenetic chase. It was their spinners, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh, who saved them the embarrassment. They took critical wickets at critical points and Raina's dismissal of Chamara Kapugedera in the 43rd over, with 68 runs and the batting Powerplay to go, proved to be the decisive blow. A pumped-up Harbhajan then finished off what he started, dismissing the last three batsmen in a hurry. He had earlier taken two wickets in the eighth and 10th over of the innings to rein in an explosive start to the chase.

When Harbhajan came in for his first spell, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya had jolted the Indian team out of a dream afternoon. Sixty runs were scored in seven overs and all three fast bowlers were clueless. Harbhajan's first over, then, was a masterpiece. With a slip and leg slip in place, and a strong on-side field, he invited Dilshan to take the risk and hit through the off side. Dilshan took the bait - he didn't have many choices - got one boundary through cover, and was bowled the next ball.

In his next over, Harbhajan got Mahela Jayawardene with a doosra, and India were on all-out attack. Three more bowlers took wickets in the first over of new spells, but failed to bring Sri Lanka's run-rate down, which was helped by Thilan Thushara's pinch-hitting. But after they lost the fifth wicket, Kumar Sangakkara and Kandamby settled in for longer innings.

With 80 required in the last 10 overs, five of which would be bowled under field restrictions, India relied on the spinners. Raina and Yuvraj gave nine runs in Nos. 41 and 42 and, in the 43rd, Raina got the ambitious shot out of Kapugedera, ending a 70-run stand in 15 overs. Harbhajan then came on to finish his third five-for in ODIs.

Stylish Player: Harbhajan Singh
Man of the Match & Series: Sachin Tendulkar