India paid the price for leaving too much for the end as their triangular series match against Sri Lanka ended in a nerve-wrecking tie on Tuesday despite captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's last-ditch charge to overhaul the target.
India did well to restrict Sri Lanka to 236 for nine but their tense run chase got difficult with the pitch getting a little slower at the end and they were stopped at the same score in a match that saw fortunes fluctuating from one team to the other till the very end.
Gautam Gambhir (91) and Dhoni (58 not out) were the top performers for India, while Sachin Tendulkar (15), Rohit Sharma (15) and Suresh Raina (15) got the starts but couldn't turn them into big scores.
Needing nine runs off the final over bowled by Lasith Malinga, India managed two runs off the first, two singles off the next two before Dhoni survived a run-out chance.
However, Vinay Kumar was run-out off the fifth ball and it boiled down to four required from the final delivery.
Dhoni lobbed the final delivery towards extra cover and it was headed for a four which Upul Tharanga pulled back from the ropes. It still was three runs for the Indian captain and an exciting tie in the match.
Earlier, for the second game in running, Gambhir missed out on a century but played substantially enough to ensure India got something out of both matches.
On Sunday, India beat Australia by four wickets to gain full four points and two from the game now takes them top of the heap with 10 points in the kitty from four matches. Australia has nine points from three matches while Sri Lanka has two from three games.
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