Colombo, Aug. 27: For the fourth successive time, Mahendra Singh Dhoni called correctly with the coin and that in many ways, set up India’s series triumph, a rare one on Lankan soil. For sure, too much cannot be made of the toss, but for the second time running at the R. Premadasa Stadium, India reaped the benefits of bowling second. For a change, it was the spinners who came to the party as the Indians won the fourth game of the series by 46 runs for their first bi-lateral series in the Emerald Isles.

Making first use of the wicket on a day when the rains stayed away, India, shepherded admirably by Suresh Raina (76, 78b) and Dhoni (71, 80b) in a 143-run fourth-wicket partnership following a pleasing half-century from Virat Kohli, fell apart in the end overs. With a big score beckoning them, the Indians stunningly lost their way, with the last seven wickets falling for a meagre 34 runs. In the event, they were bowled out for 258 in 49.4 overs, with the last ten overs producing a mere 43.

Having said that, it was always going to be a competitive total, given the way the wicket behaves in the latter part under lights. Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel troubled the Lankans with their movement and the latter made early inroads reducing the hosts to 38/2. But as long as Sanath Jayasuriya was around, it was always going to be dangerous. Taking his time, the maverick left-hander ripped into the Indian attack, racing to his 50 off just 47 deliveries before an inspired change by Dhoni in bringing in Harbhajan, put an end to their misery.

A sharply turning delivery took the leading edge off Jayasuriya’s bat and Raina brought off a good catch in the slips to the collective relief of the Indians. The Lankans never recovered from that and despite some lusty hitting by Thilan Thushara towards the end, Harbhajan and Yuvraj Singh spun them to their doom, scalping five wickets between them to bowl out the Lankans for 212 in 46.3 overs.

In the afternoon, the Indian innings, which had collapsed inexplicably like a pack of cards, was made up of three half-centuries, each of a different character. If the teenaged Kohli’s maiden fifty (54, 66b) was noteworthy, then the young Raina’s knock was impressive while skipper Dhoni’s was effective. All three had a role to play in building the innings and each employed his own unique brand of cricket.

Kohli, who has been impressive in his outings thus far, kept up his good work in a brisk opening partnership of 44 with Gautam Gambhir, who again fell early. Yuvraj, once again coming in at No. 3, was hugely disappointing and became Chaminda Vaas’s 400th victim in one-dayers; it was a personal triumph for the left-arm bowler but he was to be soon upstaged by his protégé, Thushara, who bagged his maiden five-wicket haul in his 10th match. There was the danger of the middle-order being exposed but Raina and Dhoni came together to rescue the Indians for a second successive time.

The beauty of Raina’s batting is that he can time the ball sweetly while also maintaining the run-making tempo. Of course, with Dhoni at the other end, Raina had to be brisk and though the skipper cramped up towards the end, necessitating a runner, the fourth wicket partnership was effective and entertaining.