Virat Kohli’s 45th ODI century and captain Rohit Sharma’s and Shubman Gill’s fifties helped India to a 67th straight win
Updated – Tue, 10 Jan 23 at 10:43pm
Photo: IANS
guwahati: Virat Kohli’s 45th ODI century and skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill fifties helped India beat Sri Lanka by 67 runs in their first match and clinch a three-match series at the Barsapara Cricket Ground here on Tuesday. 1-0 lead.
Gill’s 70 off 60 and Rohit’s 83 off 67 for an opening 143 overs gave India an early advantage and set the tone for the total. Kohli then took 113 off 87 balls for a second consecutive ODI century, making the most of two reprieves while striking 12 fours and a six for India in an incredible 373/7.
Sri Lanka responded with 306/8, Shanaka’s 88-ball 102 coming too late after opener Pathum Nissanka’s 80-ball 72. Young teaaway pacer Umran Malik opted for 3/57 figures, while Mohammed Siraj scored an impressive 2/30. Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal and Hardik Pandya each had a wicket as the hosts now lead 1-0 in the three-match series.
On the lightning-quick flat pitch outfield, Kohli was initially wary. He then scored his first two boundaries by deftly breaking off his wrist with Shanaka, and when Wanindu Hasaranga fell, he quickly backfooted and whipped two boundaries through the middle wicket.
He had some serious timing off the drive, like a long pass out of bounds when rookie Dilshan Madushanka ran across the fast outfield. His whip on the wrist was amazing, like the guy who hit six balls over the middle wicket and made him fifty.
Kohli’s touch was imperious, picking off slower passes with ease and dipping short balls over the keeper’s head while maintaining a balance between front-foot and back-foot strikes and getting reprieves on 52 and 81 catches.
In no time, he hit 80 balls on the field for his second hundred, hitting the air with glee to loud applause from the crowd. After picking two more boundaries, Kohli fell when his difficult sweep of Kasun Rajitha brought a top edge and was caught by the keeper, ending a spectacular knock.
Pushed into batting first, Rohit opened the overs with a silky kick off Kasun Rajitha’s four for India. From there, it was Rohit and Gill’s boundary-hitting performance, showing off their full range of strokes in an engaging stroke-play display in a power play.
The most enjoyable of these came when Gill chipped twice and sliced Madushanka for a four-man hat-trick, while Rohit was sure of his performance after India beat Rajitha for 75. Rohit also passed two DRS call lbws before surviving his 47th ODI 50 by sweeping four-legged spinner Wanindu Hasaranga behind.
Gill completed his fifth half-century review after being called up by the umpire after bowling 51 balls in 16 ODI innings. He scored another boundary hat-trick when he whipped twice and scored against left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage before Rohit hit a six over the bowler’s head.
The opening collaboration ended when Gill was beaten and trapped by Shanaka in the flick. After four rounds, Rohit got a big inside advantage from Madushankar and saw his stump uprooted.
Shreyas Iyer upped the ante with a quick boundary but mistakenly volleyed to Dhananjaya de Silva’s back leg. KL Rahul was brilliant in his 29-ball 39 before seeing his leg stump smashed by Rajitha.
Hardik and Axar Patel couldn’t do much with the bat as they had 17 runs in their last three rounds. But the efforts of Kohli, Rohit and Gill ensured that India ranks high among the top six batsmen in over 100 overs.
Chasing 374, Nissanka broke three boundaries near Shami. But Siraj helped India bounce back with his perfect line and length – forcing Avishka Fernando to miss the front edge into the half-way line before pushing Kusal Mendis past the goal with a sharp biting defender.
Nissanka had a brief 41-run run with Charith Asalanka before Umran let the latter glove the keeper, although later replays showed no bat involved. The Nissanka continued to drive and sweep with ease, while the de Silva needed some time before it could drive, stake and sweep.
The 72-run partnership ended with Shami getting a long ball to turn away, forcing the latter to drop to 47 without any footwork. After six overs, Nissanka’s battle-knock was over as he mistakenly pulled to the middle wicket to leave Umran.
Hasaranga hit Chahal at the center wicket for a six and headed high on cover for four. But the spinner had the last laugh as the right-handed batsman smacked the ball into the deep mid-wicket. In the next over, Umran let Wellalage catch a golden duck early on and fixed Sri Lanka’s shaky overs.
Chamika Karunaratne fell on Hardik as she tried to get off him and hit the center straight. Shanaka was putting up a valiant fight for Sri Lanka, leaning up while batting and timing the ball, trying to gain boundaries and score his 50 in as many balls as possible.
After Rohit withdrew his appeal for a run off the non-forward end, he went on to hit 87 off 87 balls in the final and hit his own century in the final. at 98.
Shanaka ended the innings with a deep half-wicket over six, bringing his century 73 with Rajitha and the team’s 300. But that wasn’t enough to save Sri Lanka from losing in the series opener.
notation: India beat Sri Lanka 306/8 in 50 overs (Dasun Shanaka 108 not out, Pathum Nissanka 72; Umran Malik 3/57, Mohammed Siraj 2/30) 67 points
