COLOMBO, Aug 29: Thilan Thushara’s maiden half-century and an unbroken 94-run partnership with Jehan Mubarak helped Sri Lanka recover from an early slump and reach 227-6 after batting first in the fifth and final One-day International against India on Friday.

Coming to bat when his team precariously placed at 133-6, Thushara batted aggressively with No. 7 Mubarak, who anchored the innings with a 55-ball 47 not out.

At the innings close, Thushara remained not out on 54 off just 46 balls including six fours.

Having sealed their first-ever series win in Sri Lanka by taking a 3-1 lead, India looked to extend their domination over the hosts.

After Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss for the first time in the series and elected to bat first, seamer Zaheer Khan gave India a perfect start by dismissing opener Sanath Jayasuriya for one run in the second over.

Jayasuriya tried to hit a ball on the off-side but only succeeded in top-edging it to Pragyan Ojha fielding at deep third-man.

Opener Malinda Warnapura and Mahela Udawatte then added a 77-run partnership for the third wicket, before a double strike in the 18th over by left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan brought India right back into the match.

Warnapura (30) miscued a pull shot and was caught by Gautam Gambhir, and three balls later Udawatte was trapped lbw for 43 runs.

Rudra Pratap Singh had an out-of-form Kumar Sangakkara (1) caught at slip in the next over to leave the hosts 82-4.

Chamara Kapugedera and captain Jayawardene then looked to salvage the Sri Lankan innings but their partnership lasted just 22 runs before Jayawardene was caught at extra-cover by Yuvraj Singh.

Kapugedera tried to accelerate scoring but was caught in the deep by Rudra Pratap for 26.

Ojha bowled best for India taking two wickets for just 28 runs in his 10 overs.

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