Sachin Tendulkar puts India in front

Cuttack: Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 96 led India to a seven-wicket victory on Monday in the third limited-overs international against Sri Lanka, giving the hosts a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

Tendulkar's composed knock helped India score 242-3 in 42.4 overs after Sri Lanka were bundled out for 239 in 44.2 overs despite a century partnership for the second wicket between opener Upul Tharanga (73) and captain Kumar Sangakkara (46).

Left short of century

Tendulkar struck 13 fours off 114 deliveries and was just four short of his 46th century in one-day internationals when a leg glance by Dinesh Karthik (36 not out) went wide of wicketkeeper Sangakkara for four runs.

Earlier, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja took a career-best four for 32 to restrict Sri Lanka to 239. Openers Upul Tharanga (73) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (41) gave Sri Lanka a spectacular start after they had opted to bat first before the Indian spinners, led by Jadeja, took charge.

Tharanga put on 65 with Dilshan, whose first eight scoring shots were boundaries, and 100 for the second with captain Kumar Sangakkara (46). But their last nine wickets fell for the addition of just 74 runs and the visitors were dismissed with 5.4 overs to spare.

Dilshan, who hit centuries in the first two games, tore into the new-ball pair of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma as Sri Lanka raced to 50 in 3.4 overs.

Sehwag's breakthrough

But he then top-edged Ashish Nehra to wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, playing in the place of the suspended Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag broke the second wicket stand by having Sangakkara stumped before Jadeja clean-bowled the left-handed Tharanga with a big-spinning delivery.

Mahela Jayawardene's poor form continued as he fell to off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for two and Jadeja forced Chamara Kapugedera (15) to play on to the stumps.

Jadeja finished his spell of 10 consecutive overs with the wickets of Nuwan Kulasekasra (10) and Ajantha Mendis (6) before Nehra finished the innings by bowling Lasith Malinga (13).

Scoreboard

Sri Lanka

U. Tharanga b Jadeja 73

T. Dilshan c Karthik b Nehra 41

K. Sangakkara st Karthik b Sehwag 46

M. Jayawardene c Raina b Harbhajan 2

T. Kandamby b Ishant 22

C. Kapugedara b Jadeja 15

N. Kulasekara lbw b Jadeja 10

S. Randiv c Karthik b Ishant 0

L. Malinga b Nehra 13

A. Mendis b Jadeja 6

C. Welegedara not out 2

Extras (b-1, lb-2, w-6) 9

Total (all out; 44.2 overs) 239

Fall of wickets: 1-65 2-165 3-169 4-173 5-204 6-210 7-210 8-218 9-236 10-239.

Bowling (to date): Zaheer 7-0-49-0 (w-4), Ishant 7-0-63-2, Nehra 6.2-0-32-2 (w-1), Harbhajan 9-0-29-1 (w-1), Sehwag 4-0-26-1, Jadeja 10-0-32-4, Yuvraj 1-0-5-0.

India

V Sehwag c Dilshan b Welegedara 44

Sachin Tendulkar not out 96

Gautam Gambhir c & b Randiv 32

Y Singh c Sangakkara b Welegedara 23

Dinesh Karthik not out 36

Extras: (5lb, 6w) 11

Total: (for 3 wickets) 242

Overs: 42.4.

Fall of wickets: 1-55, 2-127, 3-169.

Did not bat: Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma.

Bowling: Chanaka Welegedara 8-1-35-2, Nuwan Kulasekara 8-0-47-0, Lasith Malinga 9.4-1-55-0, Ajantha Mendis 9-0-67-0, Suraj Randiv 8-1-33-1.

Toss: Sri Lanka

Result: India wins by 7 wickets.

Series: India leads 2-1 in five-match series.

Umpires: Marais Erasmus, South Africa, and Sanjay Hazare, India.

TV Umpire: Shavir Tarapore, India. Match Referee: Alan Hurst, Australia.