Dhoni and Raina carry India to 258 against Sri Lanka

[shahul]

COLOMBO - Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina hit their second back-to-back fifties and shared in a fourth-wicket stand of 143 off 141 balls to carry India to 258 all out off 49.4 overs in the fourth one-day international against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

Virat Kohli set the pace for the pair by scoring his maiden one-day fifty and sharing an opening partnership of 44 with Gautam Gambhir after Dhoni had won his fourth straight toss of the series and decided to bat first.

Kohli hit seven fours in his knock of 54 off 66 balls before becoming the first of five victims of left-arm fast bowler Thilan Thushara who went on to take his first five-for haul in one-day cricket.

The Raina-Dhoni stand raised Indian hopes of achieving a total in excess of 275 but Sri Lanka came back strongly in the latter stages of the innings to put the brakes on the Indian run rate and capture the last seven wickets for 34 runs.

Thushara broke the stand by having Raina caught at long-off by Kulasekera for a well-compiled 76 scored off 78 balls, with six fours and one six. Eight runs later he sent back Dhoni for 71 made in 80 balls with four fours.

India lost their momentum and were dismissed with two balls of the final over to spare.

Yuvraj Singh became Chaminda Vaas's 400th wicket in one-day internationals when he was caught at short mid wicket for a duck.

Vaas, playing in his 322nd ODI, joined three other bowlers who had taken 400 wickets -- Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Muttiah Muralitharan.

India lead the five-match series 2-1.