Analysis

Indians lose their cool, Silva his bat

Plays of the day for the final of the tri-series between Sri Lanka and India

Can I have my bat back please?  •  Cameraworx/Live Images

Can I have my bat back please?  •  Cameraworx/Live Images

Watch out for that car
It's usually only in neighbourhood cricket that you have to worry about breaking car windows. In the 12th over of the day, when Tillakaratne Dilshan hammered Ishant Sharma over long-on for one of the biggest sixes of the tournament, the sponsors would have had an anxious moment as it flew perilously close to the car to be presented to the Man of the Series. Or perhaps they wouldn't have minded the extra publicity caused by a smashed windscreen.
Silva loses his grip
In the 48th over, Sri Lanka needed some big hits to get close to 300. Chamara Silva looked to slog a slower ball from Ashish Nehra towards midwicket, but the bat slipped out of his hand and flew over his head towards the keeper. Just before the bat took off, the ball hit the edge and sailed towards fine leg for four, increasing India's frustration.
Praveen loses his cool
With the ball in hand, Praveen Kumar is usually an intense man, looking angry even when he gets a wicket. With Sri Lanka already set for the highest total of the tournament, Silva tucked Praveen to long-on and scampered two in the 49th over. The throw was wide from the fielder, Dinesh Karthik, and Praveen showed how annoyed he and India were, hurling the ball to the ground in disgust.
Malinga's birthday gift
At regular intervals, the giant screen flashed a picture of Laith Malinga in a white suit and a black bow tie wishing him a happy birthday. He was gifted a wicket in his first over when the umpire, Asad Rauf, deemed Karthik caught-behind though the ball flew off his pad. Karthik was stunned by the decision, leaning on his bat and lingering in the middle in disbelief. On the walk to the pavilion, he looked at the heavens cursing his luck, his helmet falling to the ground as he absent-mindedly tried to put it back on. When he reached the dressing-room, the first thing he did was point to his team-mates where the ball struck him.
Sehwag on caffeine
Faced with a huge target, Virender Sehwag seemed determined to get India off to a flier. He put in an all-action 22-ball effort containing everything from delightful offside boundaries, leading edges, manic running, two botched free-hits, before finally ending in a manner befitting the frenzied knock - he was a run-out by a direct hit by Chamara Kapugedera from backward point when attempting a single after a typically vociferous Sri Lankan appeal for lbw was turned down.
Benefit for batsmen
It wasn't the greatest of days for the umpires. On most occasions, it was the batsman who gained from the poor calls: Mahela Jayawardene survived a close lbw call in the first over of the day, Yuvraj Singh nicked his first ball to the keeper but escaped, MS Dhoni was deemed to have an inside-edge on a confident lbw shout on 12. Perhaps the umpires were sympathetic given how difficult it has been to score in Dambulla right through the tournament.
Another Rohit no-show
Rohit Sharma has had a wretched run over the past three weeks, and if he was looking for a slice of luck to turn things around, he didn't get it on Saturday. India picked him as an extra specialist batsman in place of the allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, but Rohit wasn't able to contribute the runs expected. He fell for 5 after being drawn forward and beaten by the spin of Suraj Randiv; the keeper didn't collect the ball but, to Rohit's dismay, it ricocheted off Sangakkara's boot onto the stumps with the batsman just out of the crease.

Siddarth Ravindran is a sub-editor at Cricinfo