India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni lavished praise on his fast bowling department for charting an impressive eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka and sealing a berth in the final of the tri-nation series, in Mirpur, on Sunday.
The Indian bowlers skittled out Sri Lanka for a meagre 213 in 46.1 overs before their batting colleagues took over, guiding the team to 214 for two for a facile win that came with 17.2 overs to spare.
"This was the best fielding effort we have put up in the last one year. Everybody, today, bowled to their potential, but the credit goes to fast bowlers for the good start they gave to us," Dhoni said after the match.
"Zaheer (Khan) was superb with his bowling and then (Sudeep) Tyagi and Sreesanth also bowled quite well. Especially Tyagi was good in his second spell," Dhoni added.
Dhoni was also happy with the performance of the batting order, which negotiated the Sri Lankan bowling with ease.
"(Dinesh) Karthik batted well and gave a good start, but unfortunately missed the half-century. Then Gautam (Gambhir) and Virat (Kohli) batted superbly. Kohli has been consistent with his batting in the last few games," Dhoni said.
"Now we would like to concentrate on the next match against Bangladesh," he added.
India will take on the hosts in an inconsequential encounter on Monday in Mirpur.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara, visibly disappointed with the performance of the team, said they would take a lesson from the defeat.
"I have nothing much to say about our batting and bowling performance in today's match. Luckily, it was not the final. We have to look at the mistakes and learn from them to ensure a positive outcome in the final," Sangakkara said.
Sri Lanka, who have already qualified for the final, will meet India in the summit clash on January 13.
