Lanka set India 231 for victory

Margao, Feb 14 (UNI) Zaheer Khan claimed his first five-wicket haul to help India restrict Sri Lanka to 230 for 8 in the third one-dayer at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here today.

Electing to bat first, Sri Lanka got off to a disastrous start with three top order batsmen falling cheaply to Zaheer before the team reached the double digit mark.

Marvan Atapattu (42), T Dilshan (42) and Russel Arnold (66 not out) led the Lankan revival but the Indians managed to restrict them to 230 for 8.

India now need to score just a little over 4.5 runs per over to win the match and square the series after losing the second tie at Rajkot. The first match at Kolkata had to be called off due to rain.

Today's match started 30 minutes late due to a wet outfield.

India made three changes with Ajit Agarkar, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan coming in place of Robin Uthappa, S Sreesanth and Anil Kumble while Sri Lanka replaced Lasith Malinga with Nuwan Zoysa.

UNI