On this day, back on December 15 in 2009, India took on Sri Lanka in what went down as possibly one of the most thrilling ODI encounters. On a flat track in Rajkot, both sides scored more than 400 runs. At the end of 100 overs of rapid scoring, India won by just three runs at the then Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground.
Sri Lanka asked India to bat first and they had to slog hard till the 20th over to get their first wicket. Virender Sehwag was in his elements and he scored 146 off 102 balls. There was some blazing batting from MS Dhoni as well as India powered to 414 for 7 in their 50 overs.
At the halfway stage, India were the favourites, but Sri Lanka were not going away just yet. Their openers launched a stunning counterattack and opener Tillakaratne Dilshan smacked 160 off 124 balls and this put them in a winning position. However, India held their nerves and Sri Lanka was restricted to 411 for 8 in 50 overs, falling just 3 runs short of the target.
Earlier, Sachin Tendulkar and Sehwag started off like a train. Sachin made 69 off 63 and when he was dismissed, India had added 153 runs for the first wicket.
Dhoni promoted himself to number 3 and smashed 72 off 53 as Sehwag zoomed past his century. They added 156 in 96 balls as India crossed 300.
Dhoni fell in the next over, but Virat Kohli (27 off 19) and Ravindra Jadeja (30* off 17) provided strong finishes as India ended with 414.
In response, Upul Tharanga and Dilshan put on 188 for the opening wicket in 24 overs. Kumar Sangakkara then followed and he was unstoppable with a 90 off just 43 balls. Harbhajan Singh picked up a couple of key wickets and three run outs saw India restrict Sri Lanka to 411.
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