ODI Series: Virat Kohli’s 113 Overshadows Shanaka’s Unbeaten Ton As India Go 1 Up

Guwahati: An unbeaten 108 off 88 balls by Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka went in vain as Team India won the opening ODI by 67 runs here on Tuesday night.

Chasing a stiff target of 374, Sri Lanka managed 306/8 when the overs ran out.

The visitors were never in the hunt after Mohammad Siraj dismissed Avishka Fernando (5) and Kusal Mendis (0) in his second and third over, respectively, to reduce Lanka to 23/2 in the sixth over.

Opener Pathum Nissanka (72 off 80 balls) and Dhananjaya de Silva (47 off 40) tried to keep the fight going, but the fiery Umran Malik pegged them back with regular breakthroughs.

Shanaka continued his good form but it wasn’t possible for him alone to give it a serious chase as the asking rate kept climbing from 10 to 15 an over.

Shanaka reached his century in the final over to expose chinks in Indian bowling.

Virat Kohli earlier rode his luck to hit his 45th ODI century, and 72nd in international cricket, after skipper Rohit Sharma (83) and Shubman Gill (70) had provided India a rollicking start.

Brief scores: India 373/7 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 113, Rohit Sharma 83, Shubman Gill 70; Kasun Rajitha 3/88). Sri Lanka 306/8 in 50 overs (Dasun Shanaka 108*, Pathum Nissanka 72; Umran Malik 3/57, Md Siraj 2/30).

Result: India won by 67 runs.

Man of the Match: Virat Kohli.