COLOMBO, (Reuters) – All-rounder Farveez Maharoof claimed a hat-trick as Sri Lanka produced a near-perfect performance to beat India by seven wickets in the final round-robin match of the Asia Cup yesterday.
Both teams had already qualified to play each other in the final of the four-nation competition, tomorrow.
India, sent into bat in Dambulla, were well placed at 189 for four before they crumbled to 209 all out from 42.3 overs
They lost their last six wickets for 20 runs as Maharoof performed his hat-trick.
The right-arm fast-medium bowler trapped Ravindra Jadeja lbw, bowled Praveen Kumar, and had Zaheer Khan caught in successive deliveries in the 39th over.
He became the 23rd player to take a hat-trick in one-day internationals and the third Sri Lankan, after Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga.
Maharoof was named man-of-the-match with figures of five for 42 from 10 overs.
Rohith Sharma was India’s top scorer with 69 off 73 balls.
Sri Lanka lost openers Upul Tharanga (38) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (24) to stumble to 80 for two before a 104-run partnership between captain Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene guided them home.
Sangakkara scored 73 off 82 balls, including 10 fours, and Jayawardene finished on 53 not out, moving to his half-century with the winning boundary.
