India Srilanka Cricket at Brisbane

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India plummeted to their second successive defeat in the Commonwealth Bank ODI series Down Under as Nuwan Kulasekara celebrates taking the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar casual effort saw them lose to Sri Lanka by 51 runs in Brisbane. The result means India must not only win both their remaining matches, but they will also be dependent on the other results to secure their spot in the best-of-three final. The loss seemed inevitable after India lost their top three batsmen with just 54 runs on the board while chasing a target of 290 set by the Sri Lankans. Two of those wickets went to man-of-the-match Nuwan Kulasekara who benefitted from sticking to the basics of good line and length. Captain Virender Sehwag was out for a duck to an extremely poor shot off just the second ball of the chase. Tendulkar looked good to start off with but merely flattered to deceive as he clipped the ball onto his stumps when on 22. Gautam Gambhir, who despite having two scores in the 90s this series while opening the batting, was dropped down to number 3 and once again looked in form before he guided a ball from Kulasekera to Thisara Perera in the gully. Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina did stage a comeback and stitched together a 92-run partnership that was aided by some sloppy catching from the Lankans. Raina got a lucky let off when on four as Dilshan failed to hold on to a chance off Angelo Mathews. Virat Kohli had two escapes himself both courtesy Dinesh Chandimal at deep mid-wicket. First on 14 ...