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Electing to bat, India made 237 for nine against Sri Lanka in the third cricket one-dayer at R Premadasa Stadium here today.
R Sharma was in his elements and supported skipper MS Dhoni well.
Dhoni lofted Muttiah Muralitaharan for a straight drive and then played a superb cut-shot for consecutive boundaries after getting to his 50.
Sharma joined the party hitting Mendis for a confident boundary over extra cover, indicating what was in store for the Lankan bowlers as Indian innings approached the final five overs.
Both the batsmen pushed the accelerator button and in the process Sharma fell to left-arm pacer Thilan Thushara after mistiming a shot which landed in the hands of Chamara Kapugedara at mid-off.
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh joined Dhoni in the middle but could not last long and was dismissed by Mendis while trying to go for a big shot.
Dhoni made his walk back on the next ball when a low cover drive was caught by Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene, putting Mendis on a hat-trick.
The Army spinner almost got the hat-trick as Zaheer Khan, deceived by the spin sensation, struggled to put his foot on ground but just managed it and was ruled not out by the third umpire.
Earlier, opener Gambhir (8) who missed the second ODI with a stiff neck, could not make an impact, falling cheaply when he was trapped by Nuwan Kulasekara.
Yuvraj Singh also continued to struggle for form and soon joined Gambhir in the pavilion.
The Punjab southpaw hit a six soon after arriving at the pitch but could not carry forward a confident start.
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