THE moment symbolised the agony of the Indians: Rahul Dravid throwing his bat down in sheer disgust after failing to score off a Sanath Jayasuriya delivery in the penultimate over.
It was a match of intense disappointment for India, the side going down to Sri Lanka by six runs at the Premadasa Stadium, suffering its second successive defeat in the Coca-Cola triangular competition.
"No excuses. We should have won this game," Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly fumed and he could not quite hide his disappointment.
He had played his part, dropping himself down the order, handling Muttiah Muralitharan with aplomb, and coming up with a 105-ball 69, but it was his opposite number who had the last laugh.
It was an inspired piece of captaincy by Jayasuriya that turned the game Sri Lanka's way. India was well placed at 151 for four in the 38th over when Jayasuriya introduced part-time off-spinner Russel Arnold into the attack.
The fling of the dice worked, with the Indian captain sweeping Arnold straight into the hands of Jayasuriya at backward of square. The jubilation in the Lankan camp mirrored the importance of the wicket.
Ganguly had been in an imperious mood in this innings - twice square-cutting Muralitharan to the fence and once dancing down the wicket to thump the offie through the covers - and the game was slipping away from the Lankans.
Dravid played the anchor role in an admirable manner, first putting together an 80-run stand for the fifth wicket with Ganguly (123 balls) and then raising 27 off 30 balls and 22 off 26 deliveries for the sixth and seventh wickets with Reetinder Singh Sodhi and Virender Sehwag respectively.
However, during the nail-biting stages towards the end, Dravid, for all his experience and ability, could not deliver the big hits when it mattered.
In his case, it was a lot of hard work coming to nothing. He walked back a disappointed man, unbeaten on 49 (80 balls).
India, which again lost the toss, had chased 222 on a pitch that played better than the ones for the earlier two games, but this did not bring about any change in its fortunes.
The last two overs were dramatic. Jayasuriya, taking on the responsibility himself, pulled the game Lanka's way by conceding just five runs in the 49th - India required 17 off the last two.
And when 12 were required in the final over, it was the unsung off-spinner Kumara Dharmasena who stood between India and a heroic victory, not allowing Dravid and Sameer Dighe to get under the ball for the huge hits. The Indian pair managed just five and the Lankans were celebrating to the delight of a much healthier Sunday crowd.
The strategy in the climactic stages should have been to play out principal threat Muttiah Muralitharan and go after the rest, but both Reetinder Singh Sodhi and Virender Sehwag fell to the offie, dismissals that swung the match Lanka's way.
Sodhi, stroking the ball fluently and running like a hare between the wickets, appeared in fine nick, but his attempted steer against the spin was a shot strewn with risks. He was bowled.
And then, when just two balls remained in Muralitharan's final over, Sehwag thoughtlessly took the arial route and only managed to hole out in the process.
Earlier, the Indian top-order had once again come apart with the new opening pair of Amay Khurasia and Yuveraj Singh failing to come good, the nippy Suresh Perera, also adjudged the Man of the Match, scalping both of them.
Harbhajan Singh walked in as the pinch-hitter, but the Lankans had him removed early, the foxy left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas being the bowler. And Laxman was a victim of a doubtful caught behind dismissal, even as he shaped to play a lifting delivery from the genuinely quick Dilhara Fernando.
Earlier, left-handed Avishka Gunawardene's 63 was the highest individual score in the Lankan innings, but the opener was lucky too, dropped twice, by Sehwag and Yuveraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Reetinder Singh Sodhi being the bowlers to suffer.
It was at best a scrappy innings, he was all at sea against Harbhajan Singh, but on this day, Gunawardene's knock was worth its weight in gold for Sri Lanka.
Once again the rapidly rising offie Harbhajan Singh delighted with the ball, bringing all his variations into play, and it was his spell of 10-1-29-3 that was clearly the bowling highlight of the match.
In fact, Sri Lanka, reduced to 154 for seven, owed their final score to an enterprising eighth-wicket 49-run stand (58 balls) between Kumara Dharmasena and Suresh Perera. It was the partnership that ultimately cost India the match.
The scores:Sri Lanka: S. Jayasuriya st. Dighe b Harbhajan 34; A. Gunawardene b Sehwag 63; M. Atapattu c Khurasiya b Harbhajan 5; M. Jayawardene c Dighe b Sodhi 0; R. Kaluwitharana c Dighe b Yuveraj 36; R. Arnold (run out) 1; K. Dharmasena c Ganguly b Zaheer 26; C. Vaas lbw b Harbhajan 1; S. Perera c Ganguly b Yuveraj 28; M. Muralitharan (not out) 6; D. Fernando (not out) 5. Extras (b-3, lb-4, nb-3, w-6) 16. Total (for nine wkts. in 50 overs) 221.
Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-60, 3-61, 4-144, 5-147, 6-149, 7-154, 8-203, 9-210.
India bowling: Zaheer 9-0-42-1, Mohanty 5-0-27-0, Harbhajan 10-1-29-3, Sodhi 9-0-42-1, Sehwag 7-0-33-1, Yuveraj 10-1-41-2.
India: A. Khurasiya lbw b Perera 12; Y. Singh c Muralitharan b Perera 12; V. V. S. Laxman c Kaluwitharana b Fernando 17; H. Singh c Jayasuriya b Vaas 1; S. Ganguly c Jayasuriya b Arnold 69; R. Dravid (not out) 49; R. S. Sodhi b Muralitharan 19; V. Sehwag c Perera b Muralitharan 12; S. Dighe (not out) 11. Extras (lb-1, w-6, nb-6) 13. Total (for seven wkts. in 50 overs) 215.
Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-29, 3-30, 4-71, 5-151, 6-178, 7-200.
Sri Lanka bowling: Vaas 7-1-22-1; Perera 6-0-26-2; Fernando 7-0-29-1; Muralitharan 10-1-35-2; Dharmasena 10-0-46-0; Jayasuriya 7-0-44-0; Arnold 3-0-12-1.
ASKED about Lanka going into the Coca-Cola triangular series with five seamers, skipper Sanath Jayasuriya said the team was, in fact, looking for something more.
He wanted pacemen who could bat usefully as well. "We want them to contribute runs lower down the order. In today's cricket this is important."
Jayasuriya would have been delighted by the performance of the 22-year-old Suresh Perera at the Premadasa Stadium against India. A display that won the youngster the Man of the Match award.
At first glance 28 and two for 26 may not seem match-winning performances, but in the context of the game they were vital contributions.
First, his bright 31-ball 28 and his 49-run partnership for the eighth wicket with Kumara Dharmasena provided the Lankan score respectability and then he removed the two Indian openers, Amay Khurasia and Yuveraj Singh, pegging the visitors back on the chase. "I am happy, this is my first Man of the Match award, but I am even more happy that the team won. The team should do well." said the Colombo-born Perera.
He can be sharp with the ball, possesses the ability to bowl the away-going delivery. With the bat, he is a breezy player, who can come up with the big blows when the team needs them.
"I want to bowl fast. I want to attack. We need early wickets," he said, reflecting his attitude towards his craft. And when it comes to all-rounders, Pakistan's Abdur Razzaq is the cricketer he admires.
Perera says he owes his recent improvement to Sri Lanka's new fast bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake. "He has helped me a lot, he has encouraged me, always had time for me."
The youngster also has nice things to say about the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai, where he has undergone training under the Aussie pace bowling great Dennis Lillee.
In fact, several of the current young Lankan pacemen have been to the MRF Pace Foundation at one time or the other. "There is so much talent among fast bowlers in Lanka these days. A lot of them are fast. Dilhara (Fernando)... he is very fast. It is very competitive."
A product of the Isipathana College in Colombo, Perera was nothing more than an off-cutter bowler till the under-17 stage, but soon started bowling fast. And things began to happen in his career.
Tasting success in the domestic competitions, Perera made his debut for Sri Lanka 'A' against the touring Zimbabwe in Matara. The year was 1998, and he performed reasonably well.
Since then it has been a rollercoaster ride for him. He turned in creditable displays against England 'A' in Sri Lanka, made his Test debut in the Sri Lanka-England one-off match at the Oval 1999 - he scalped Alec Stewart and remained 43 not out in his only innings - but was soon off the circuit with a stress fracture in the lower back.
He has shown the character and the courage to bounce back from that bleak moment. Suresh Perera is back on the prowl.
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