Dhoni reaches fever pitch

Mahendra Singh Dhoni makes light of a fever en route to a vital half-century

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India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni revealed that he was battling a fever as well as Sri Lanka's bowlers during his crucial half-century in the fourth one-day international in Colombo.

Dhoni made 71, sharing a 143-run partnership for the fourth wicket with man of the match Suresh Raina (76) as India triumphed by 46 runs to seal a first series victory in Sri Lanka since 1985.

Dhoni had to call for a runner during his innings, but insisted it was not due to the humid conditions.

"I had a fever yesterday and hadn't recovered fully," he said. "The heat was coming more from the inside rather than the weather and at times I felt as if I would explode.

"It was a struggle out there, but getting a half-century was a boost and it helped me carry on."

Dhoni, however, lamented his side’s poor middle-order batting and claimed that quick dismissals cost them at least 20 runs.

"I think Suresh batted very well, but we got out too quickly together. We would have easily added another 20 or 30 runs had one of us stayed ’til the end.

"We didn't score too many runs in the last 10 overs and that was a negative in this game, but overall I'm very happy with our performance."

Dhoni was full of praise for his bowlers, who performed well with the new ball before Harbhajan Singh helped bowl Sri Lanka out for 212.

"It's essential to get wickets first up and I think Zaheer (Khan) and Praveen (Kumar) have handled the new ball very well,” said Dhoni.

The jubilant India team savour victory - and a first series win in Sri Lanka for 23 years

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"Praveen didn't do too well in this match, but then Munaf (Patel) stepped in.”

"It's good to the players backing each other and stepping in to shoulder responsibility when someone else fails.

"It has been the case with our batting as well and we've been fielding well too."

Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene complimented India on a deserved win, although he was left to rue losing the toss.

"There is a certain advantage in winning the toss," he said. "The spinners get more purchase towards the latter part of the innings and when you lose wickets its always going to be tough.

"You can't take anything away from India's win. They won the toss, put the runs on the board and then put us under pressure by picking up those wickets."

Jayawardene paid tribute to Sanath Jayasuriya after the opener top-scored with 60 to give the hosts the ideal start.

"Sanath got us off to a good start and it was good to see him coming to the party,” he added.

"A good start is something which we had lacked in previous matches. He gave us that in this match but, unfortunately, we could not follow it up and could not get a good partnership going.

“In the end, after losing all those wickets, we finished 40 runs short which perhaps we could have got had we had wickets in hand."