Gautam Gambhir notched up his seventh century while Virat Kohli struck his maiden to script India's series-clinching seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI on Thursday.
Chasing 316 to win the tie and seal the series with one match to go, India found themselves in the morass at 23 for two before Gambhir (150 not out) starred in an 224-run stand with Virat Kohli (107) to inject fresh life into the chase and then completed the formality in Dinesh Karthik's (19 not out) company.
The wobbly start notwithstanding, it was a clinical chase by the Indians who cruised to 317 for three in 48.1 overs to go 3-1 up in the five-match series.
Gambhir, who became the newest member of the 3000-run club, faced 137 balls in his controlled innings, hitting 14 fours in the process.
Kohli's mature 114-ball knock was studded with 11 fours and a six.
Earlier, Upul Tharanga (118) hit his seventh ODI century and starred in a 126-run partnership with captain Kumar Sangakkara (60) as Sri Lanka posted 315 for six, the highest score at the venue till India overwhelmed it.
After Tharanga and Sangakkara had laid the perfect platform for a late charge, debutant Thissara Perera hit a 14-ball 31 to make the most of the batting powerplay and help the visitors cross the 300-mark.
Both the teams now move to Delhi for the fifth and final ODI on Sunday.
India's chase got off to a wobbly start and the Eden Gardens crowd watched in horror as the home side lost both their openers inside four overs with Suranga Lakmal, playing only his second ODI, being the party-pooper.
Stand-in skipper Virender Sewag (10) had begun with a bang, sending the first ball of the innings from Perera to the rope, a treatment he repeated four balls later.
Lakmal, however, had other ideas and his fourth delivery took an edge off Sehwag's blade and nestled into point fielder Tillakaratne Dilshan's safe palms.
In his next over, Lakmal induced Sachin Tendulkar (8) for a doomed cut and Suraj Randiv sent groans across the stadium when he took the catch at cover point.
Their team in dire strait, Kohli and Gambhir showed tremendous maturity as they rebuilt the innings, brick by brick, with some sensible cricket.
For someone who owes his place in the side to Yuvraj Singh's finger injury, Kohli asserted himself with four successive boundaries off Lasith Malinga's first over.
Subsequent overs were not equally rewarding but both ran hard to maintain the run rate.
Kohli fell soon after his century but by then, India had the match in the bag.
Earlier, the 126-run stand between Tharanga and Sangakkara was the cornerstone of the Sri Lankan innings and the late charge was provided by Thissara Perera.
Just when the Lankan innings was getting over, the floodlights near the giant scorecard went off, delaying the proceedings for about 23 minutes, much to the embarrassment of the organisers.
Dropped on seven by Ashish Nehra off his own bowling, Tharanga went on to hit 118 from 128 balls with 14 boundaries and two sixes.
With hard-hitting opener Tillakaratne Dilshan (9) and Sanath Jayasuriya (15) coming a cropper, Tharanga and Sangakkara did the bulk of Lankan scoring during their 142-ball stand.
Sangakkara made 60 from 72 balls before he was stumped off the bowling of Harbhajan.
After Sangakkara won the toss and decided to set a target, home side bowlers Nehra and Zaheer Khan started off beautifully, restraining the destructive opening duo of Dilshan and Tharanga.
In fact, Nehra started off with a maiden over -- India's first in the ongoing five-match series.
The Lankans had a rather sluggish start with just nine coming from the first five overs but soon Tharanga began to open up after he was given a life.
He was at his explosive best when he smashed five boundaries in the first over of Ishant Sharma, who came in as one-change after Nehra had given the breakthrough by taking the prized scalp of Dilshan.
A superb catch by Virat Kohli at long leg brought the end of Dilshan as Sri Lanka lost their first wicket for 31 after eight overs.
Back in the side, Jayasuriya looked in fine nick in his run-a-ball 15 before he edged Zaheer in the first slip.
At 72 for two, Sri Lanka almost lost another wicket but Harbhajan dropped Sangakkara on zero and the Lankan skipper went on to play a supporting role to centurion Tharanga. The left-handed duo played some sensible cricket with Tharanga playing the role of an aggressor.
Tharanga notched up his seventh ODI century from 102 balls and Perera's late cameo then lifted the Lankan totals past the 300-mark.
Zaheer and Nehra took two wickets each with the former being the best Indian bowler of the day.
LUBBOCK, Texas – Pat Knight seems to have coached himself out of an identity crisis.
Knight acknowledged he had a difficult time adjusting in his first full season at Texas Tech last year. Players said he may have tried to please too many people — his bosses, fans, his team.
Maybe even his famous father, Bob Knight.
Pat Knight, who took over after nine years as an assistant to his dad at Texas Tech and Indiana, said he was unsure how to act at first. Should he be subdued, the antithesis of his father?
"Then finally, toward the middle of the year, I'm, 'To hell with it, I've got to be me.' And that's getting after people," Pat Knight said. "So there's just too much stuff I worried about that I shouldn't have."
The transition wasn't easy, said the younger Knight, who claims he's more like his father "than anybody knows."
Bob Knight, who resigned midseason in 2008, didn't come to practices last season when Texas Tech finished 14-19. That left Pat Knight to forge his own way.
He chose to abandon his father's man-to-man defense and use a zone, which he said he truly didn't "know the first thing about." The Red Raiders won only three games in Big 12 play.
"We didn't really know how to approach each other," Pat Knight said of the relationship with his father. "Just strange. It wasn't bad. It was just odd. He didn't want to overstep boundaries, but now we got that all straightened out."
The two now talk regularly and, when the elder Knight is in town, he comes to practices and offers input to his son and to players.
The father understood his son's approach last season.
"You get your first job and you think you can reinvent the wheel, instead of going with what works for you and what you know," Pat Knight said his father told him.
Pat Knight has a more athletic team this year and there is greater depth off the bench. He's returned to the man defense and seems more comfortable leading the team.
It seems to be working. The Red Raiders (10-1) are ranked No. 23, having entered the AP poll at 16th earlier this month following a 99-92 overtime home win against then-No. 12 Washington. They fell seven spots this week after a 85-83 road loss at WichitaState.
Leading scorer Mike Singletary said players like the way Pat Knight coaches them. The junior won't be pulled out of a game for missing a shot or committing a turnover, Pat Knight told him. Bob Knight did it otherwise, Singletary said.
"Pat just makes us feel comfortable," Singletary said.
Singletary said he often felt stymied while playing for the elder Knight.
There was "kind of a fear factor," he said. "But with Pat, (it's) just go out and play your game and play with effort. I can live with that.'"
John Roberson, who came to Texas Tech with Singletary at the start of Bob Knight's final season, said Pat Knight seems more "cool, calm and collected" during games and that he wants players' input.
When Bob Knight told him to do something, Roberson said, the player "couldn't really say anything about it because it's his way or the highway."
"Pat's more, 'Tell me what you think.' He allows you to go to him to tell him what you think."
That happened late in the win against the Huskies. During a timeout Pat Knight told his players to shift into a zone on an inbound play. Roberson said he told his coach he thought the team should stick with man-to-man.
His coach agreed and the decision brought Roberson a steal and an easy layup that sealed the win.
"I think we are just more mature," said Roberson, the team's point guard. "Last year, when things weren't going our way, we just kind of pouted and we were just playing individually and not as a team. This year we are more of a family and I think we just always have each other's back."
Roberson believes Pat Knight can build a powerhouse program in West Texas
"I didn't even expect for us to be this good this year," he said. "What he has done in a year is ridiculous. Years down the road, he can get this place to be a very good program."
