Riding on Virat Kohli’s century, India beat Sri Lanka in the first ODI of the 3-match series in Guwahati. The former Indian skipper notched up his 73rd ton in international cricket, while Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Umran Malik all made useful contributions in the Indian victory.
Having won the toss and decided to put India into bat, Dashun Sanaka was made to regret his decision by the Indian openers, who stitched a 143-run opening partnership. Rohit Sharma, who kept out the double-centurion Ishan Kishan, provided India a brisk start and got to his fifty in 41 balls.
Shubman Gill continued his dream run in ODI cricket with another fine half-century in 51 balls. Shanaka provided the breakthrough for Sri Lanka by dismissing Shubman Gill (70), while Rohit Sharma (83) also perished without reaching his hundred.
Kohli looked at ease throughout his innings and made the Sri Lankans pay for dropping him twice. He hit his 2nd consecutive ODI hundred and 45th overall. Cameos from Shreyas Iyer (28) and KL Rahul (39) pushed India’s total to 373.
With the ball in hand, Mohammad Siraj’s opening burst of 2 wickets for 15 runs in 5 overs gave India a brilliant start. Umran Malik came to the party with three wickets in the middle to take the game away from Sri Lanka.
With the Indian spinners not being effective, Nissanka (72) stitched crucial partnerships with Dhananjaya de Silva (47) and Asalanka (23). Shanka waged a lone battle for the visitors and made a fine century (108) but in vain.
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
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