India’s top order and bowling attack got the job done against Sri Lanka in the opening ODI on Tuesday (10 January) as the visitors were sidelined by 67 runs. Virat Kohli reached his 45th ODI century, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill entertained his glorious 50s and helped India achieve a mammoth score on the board. Accordingly, the Visitor did not appear to threaten India in his quest for 374 and would have lost by an even larger margin had the skipper not finished with his 100 undefeated.
Sri Lanka didn’t get off to the best start, though his Nissanka scored his three limits in his first three overs. Mohammed Siraj made a comeback where he only managed an edge to be caught in just 5. He eliminated Avishka Fernando. In the next over, when Sri Lanka was put under the pump, Siraj came one back and tapped Ksar Mendis’ stumps. Charith Asalanka appeared to hand the keeper his racket while trying to leg his look and it got even worse when he returned to the pavilion. Subsequent replays, however, suggested that the ball had simply grazed the towel on its way to the keeper when the batter made a check and did not answer the call.
Meanwhile, one warrior fighting in a corner was Nissanka. Joined by Dhananjaya de Silva, the duo tried to stabilize the innings before his third over saw him reach the seventh boundary. Nissanka scored 50 and opposite Dhananjaya gained confidence. The all-rounder traded within limits, plummeting from just 39 to 47 as Sri Lanka tried to up the ante just before his mark at half-time. However, when Dhananjaya was chasing a package to push them back to KL Rahul, they were stopped by Mohamed Shami.
Nissanka slowed their pace when Umran Malik missed his shot, resulting in the top edge being sacked mid-wicket. Wanindu his Hasaranga entertained with a mini-his cameo, slamming Yuzvendra Chahal for six in a row, but missed a shot while trying to pick up the third. At this point the chase was nearly complete and scattered with dust as Umran supplemented his tally to continue hacking. Surprisingly, however, after losing his 8 wickets in his 38 overs, Sri Lanka did not lose another wicket and was able to make the rest of the delivery without damage.
Shanaka battled his Tailender Kasun Rajitha in his one-on-one, and the two ended up partnering on his 100 balls just out of his 73 balls. As it was the last 10 over one man show, out of 100 there were only 9 entries for Rajitha. Shanaka found his limits and continued to bite into the finish, and in the final over he looked poised to hit a 100. But a strange single from the third ball threatened to ruin his party before returning hits in his last two deliveries, with 4 and 6 to remain undefeated with 108.
Earlier in the day, the Indian top order put in a clinical performance on the racquet and completed a regal total, with Rohit and Gill hitting his seven boundaries in just his four overs in the opening of the game. So we brought India to the flyer. That start set the pace, the runs kept flowing, and both hitters were happy.
Rohit, who returned to the side from a thumb injury, scored 50 at his best, followed by a score by Gil, confirming the management’s decision to choose him over Ishan Kishan. Dasung his Shanaka was then responsible for making a breakthrough for the team by catching Gil lbw for 70 to break the opening 143. Rohit then missed a ton when he tipped a delivery to the stumps inside to drop to his 83, but Kohli started the inning aggressively on the other side and raced to 18 of 12. bottom.
Kohli was at his best, turning shots consistently, and players like Shreyas his Iyer and he KL Rahul provided timely boundaries to his opponents. Both Iyer and Rahul made practical contributions to keep India’s course from dropping significantly after the opening game was rejected. At the end of 40 overs, India were 294/3 and expected to pass 400 overs. But Rahul was stopped on his 39 by his Rajitha, whose dismissal gave India a touch back.
Had Ksal Mendis been able to capitalize on Kohli’s chances, Lajisa could have done more damage. Kohli was again pardoned, but this time from Shanaka with additional cover, and the former captain made the most of it. He achieved 73 tons in international cricket, putting India in a dominant position with just 80 deliveries. Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel failed to fire and the Indian Longtail 400 failed to break through, but the 373 was sufficient for the day.
Brief scores: India 373/7 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 113, Rohit Sharma 83, Shubman Gill 70; Kasun Rajitha 3/88) beat Sri Lanka306/8 in 50 overs (Dasun Shanaka 108*, Pathum Nissanka 72; Umran Malik 3/57) by 67 runs