Date-stamped : 18 Sep94 - 14:30 4 Nation Singer ODI tournament Sri Lanka v India, Finals Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo, 17 September 1994 India beat Sri Lanka in one-day final A 71-run third wicket stand between skipper Mohammad Azharuddin and Navjot Sidhu saw India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets and take the Singer trophy in an abbreviated 25-over final on Saturday. The team losing the toss and batting first were always likely to be at a disadvantage and Sri Lanka could only reach 98 for nine after a wet ground had delayed the start for four and a half hours. India got off to a bad start losing Sachin Tendulkar without scoring and Manoj Prabhakar for 10 to be 15 for two in the fifth over. Azharuddin and Sidhu then steered their side to the brink of vic- tory before both departed within two runs of each other with five overs left. India were made to struggle for their last 11 runs but Vinod Kambli and Atul Bedade finished the job with eight balls to spare. Azharuddin, gauging the pace of the slow pitch well, top-scored with 45 off 51 balls with one six and one four to take the man- of-the-match award. Arjuna Ranatunga, who became the first Sri Lankan batsman to score 4,000 runs in one-day internationals when he made 13, took the man-of-the-series award with consistent contributions with the bat which earned him an average of 65. Top scorer for Sri Lanka was Ruwan Kalpage with 39 off 58 balls with two fours. India's victory was sweet revenge as they were placed in a simi- liar situation in the opening match of the four-nation tournament against Sri Lanka and lost by seven wickets. India took a cheque for $15,000 and Sri Lanka $7,500. Australia and Pakistan were the other countries involved. Contributed by vicky (vigneswa@risky.ecs.umass.edu)