India beat Sri Lanka by two wickets at the Adelaide Oval.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit the winning runs in the last over to reach his half-century and help his team sneak past Sri Lanka's total of 238-6.

Yuvraj Singh, who has struggled for runs all summer, found form at the perfect time to score an invaluable 76 and guide his team to their second win from six matches in the series.

India now have 12 points and trail Australia, who top the standings with 17 from five games. Sri Lanka are bottom with just six points from their five outings.

Sri Lanka:

Tillakaratne Dilshan c Dhoni b Patel 4

Sanath Jayasuriya run out (Patel) 0

Kumar Sangakkara c Kumar b Pathan 128

Mahela Jayawardene run out (Kumar) 71

Chamara Kapugedera run out (Rohit) 1

Chamara Silva c Uthappa b Harbhajan 21

Farveez Maharoof not out 3

Chaminda Vaas not out 1

Extras (lb 4, w 4, nb 1) 9

Total (for six wickets in 50 overs) 238

Bowling:

Munaf Patel 9 2 38 1 (1w)

Ishant Sharma 10 0 44 0

Irfan Pathan 10 0 44 1 (2w)

Parveen Kumar 10 0 49 0 (1nb)

Harbhajan Singh 10 0 54 1

Yuvraj Singh 1 0 5 0 (1w)

India:

Gautam Gambhir c Sangakkara b Amerasinghe 15
Sachin Tendulkar b Malinga 0
Robin Uthappa run out (Jayasuriya) 10
Rohit Sharma c Silva b Muralitharan 24
Yuvraj Singh b Vaas 76
Mahendra Singh Dhoni not out 50
Irfan Pathan b Amerasinghe 31
Praveen Kumar c Jayawardene b Amerasinghe 6
Harbhajan Singh lbw b Malinga 3
Ishant Sharma not out 0

Total: (for 8 wickets in 49.1 overs) 239

Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Tendulkar, 1.1 overs), 2-33 (Uthappa, 9.6), 3-35 (Gambhir, 11.4), 4-99 (R. Sharma, 23.2), 5-158 (Yuvraj, 32.6), 6-216 (Pathan, 45.3), 7-229 (Kumar, 47.4), 8-236 (Harbhajan, 48.4)

Bowling:

Chaminda Vaas 10 0 27 1
Lasith Malinga 10 1 37 2 (4w)
Ishara Amerasinghe 10 0 49 3 (1w)
Farveez Maharoof 6.1 0 43 0 (2w)
Muttiah Muralitharan 10 0 44 1 (1w)
Sanath Jayasuriya 2 0 14 0
Tillakaratne Dilshan 1 0 11 0

Gilchrist says Ponting feeling the strain

Ricky Ponting

Adam Gilchrist said here Friday that he believed the stress of a long and often troubled campaign was affecting the form of Australian skipper Ricky Ponting.

Ponting has endured a lean run on home turf by his own lofty standards.

He scored just 128 runs at 21.33 in the first three Tests of the contentious series against India, which Australia won 2-1, before grafting out a hundred in the final Test in Adelaide.

In the tri-series, he has been troubled by back soreness and scored just 43 runs at 10.75, reaching double figures for the first time in Friday's win over Sri Lanka.

Most worrying for Ponting is the number of times he has been caught behind the wicket, a trend that continued on Friday when he guided a ball straight to first slip.

Vice-captain Gilchrist said a long Test and one-day campaign, combined with off-field issues were a heavy load for Ponting to bear.

Among the dramas Ponting found himself in the middle of was the controversy over Indian bowler Harbhajan Singh, who was accused by Aussie all-rounder Andrew Symonds of racism during the infamous Sydney Test. He also became caught up in the row over players taking part in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL).

"I am sure he, like all of us, will have been worn down by a lot of the focus and a lot of the issues that have been around," Gilchrist said after the 63-run win over Sri Lanka that lifted Australia back to the top of the tri-series table.

"We seem to have jumped from one thing to another, whether they be highly controversial or just issues that need to be dealt with. Things like the Pakistan tour hanging around, the IPL, the Indian Test series and all the issues there in the (Harbhajan) hearing.

"He has had to take the brunt of it and I think we have got to acknowledge that he does that and stands up and wants to do it, that is his job."

Gilchrist said Ponting had been doing a great job under the circumstances and backed his class to shine through with the bat before too long.

He said it was up to the other players to show their support for Ponting.

"He is still running the team beautifully, captaining," Gilchrist said.

"We have got to rally around him and keep him going but he is a class act and he will be fine."

Gilchrist said the scheduling of the tri-series, with Australia playing only on Fridays and Sundays, also made life tough, and conceded the squad struggled with a four-day break followed by two games in three days.

Gilchrist relief at successful WACA farewell

Adam Gilchrist

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Australia's Adam Gilchrist admitted he was relieved to have successfully completed an emotional WACA farewell after his match-winning century against Sri Lanka.

The 36-year-old, who will hang up the pads after the tri-series, gave his home fans one more innings to remember with a controlled 118 which lifted Australia to a crucial 63-run win.

Although the wicketkeeper-batsman made his decision to retire last month, Gilchrist said the enormity of the move only hit him during Friday's match, where chants of "Gilly" rang out around the stands.

"Today was where it really hit me, that it is all finishing," he said.

"Today was always going to be a big day, so I was more nervous than any day, leading into here.

"I am glad it is done ... there was a lot of emotion in there."

Gilchrist said he was determined to make a big score to thank local supporters, who booed him when he started his career with Western Australia but soon embraced the popular New South Welshman.

He admitted it had been a draining final period of his career after a contentious Test series with India and controversy swirling over the lucrative Indian Premier League, which he will join in April.

"It's a difficult schedule this one, not playing for four days and then playing back-to-back," he said.

"There is a lot of downtime between the Sunday and Friday games and maybe all of us have struggled on the back of an intense Test series."

Nevertheless, the win lifted Australia back to the top of the tri-series ladder and Gilchrist said it was an important victory.

"It keeps us right up there now and eases the pressure on the next few games," he said.

"That said, if we drop one we'll be back in the same position."

Gilchrist holds the world record for Test dismissals (414) and has won three World Cups with Australia.

Australia's next game is against India in Adelaide on Sunday, while Sri Lanka play India at the same venue on Tuesday.