Defending a moderate total, Sri Lanka needed to bowl India out. They decided bowling short was the way to attack. It didn't work. In the process, they were wayward with a predominantly leg-and-outside-leg stump line that gave Indian batsmen plenty of easy balls to work with. Of the 185 runs Sri Lankan bowlers conceded off the bat, 81 came off short-of-length balls. Overall, they bowled 37% of their deliveries in the umpire's half of the pitch. In comparison, only 30% of the Indian bowling was short. But crucially, Indian bowlers sent down only 11% of their deliveries on or outside leg. Sri Lanka bowled nearly 27% at the Indian batsmen's legs. And they didn't have the luxury of a large target to do that.

Dilhara Fernando and Nuwan Zoysa bowled 69 of the 101 short balls sent down by the Lankans. Sure, the duo managed to earn 49% of the false shots that the Indian batsmen played (ironically, top scorer Sachin Tendulkar headed the list, playing 16 of the 66 out-of-control shots played by the Indian batsmen). But ultimately, the number wasn't enough to help Sri Lanka defend a small target.

Sri Lankan bowlers saw Indian batsmen score 65% of the runs from the bat off the back foot. Sixty-one percent of the runs came on the leg side. Also, India's bowlers sent down 191 dot balls to 170 by the Lankans - in the final analysis, that made the difference.

Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly strangled Sri Lanka in the middle overs with his golden arm, conceding less than three runs an over. He bowled his full quota, mostly in tandem with Anil Kumble and gave the Indian attack unexpected depth. His figures of 1 for 28 was his second-best one-day figures in terms of runs conceded off a completed ten-over effort, second only to his sensational 10-3-16-5 against Pakistan in Toronto in 1997.

Ganguly didn't gift the Sri Lankan batsmen much to drive, sending down 83% of his spell either on a good length or just short. Mostly bowling to Mahela Jayawardene and Upul Chandana, Ganguly gave away just three runs in front of the wicket; 46% of the runs he gave away came behind and square off the wicket on the off side. Jayawardana took the most runs off him – getting 14, half of that made off his front foot.

As our graphic shows, only ten of Ganguly's deliveries hit a good length . Sixty-three percent of his bowling spell was on a line just outside off. He kept a tight leash on the batsmen - 41 of his 60 deliveries were dot balls, second only to Ashish Nehra who sent down 44 deliveries which weren't scored of.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd