India defeated Sri Lanka in the first One Day International (ODI) of the series with a 67-run victory on Tuesday, putting them ahead 1-0 in the series. India set a target of 373 runs, which Sri Lanka was unable to reach, ending their innings with 308 runs after losing 8 wickets in 50 overs.
India’s captain Virat Kohli had a standout performance, scoring his 73rd international century and 45th ODI century, putting him close to breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most ODI centuries. Kohli scored 113 runs off 87 balls, dominating the Sri Lankan bowlers.
Rohit Sharma, India’s captain, and opener Shubhman Gill also contributed to the team’s success, with Sharma scoring 83 runs off 67 balls and Gill scoring 70 runs off 60 balls. The opening partnership between Sharma and Gill was 143 runs.
During the match, India had opportunities to set a target of 400, but Sri Lanka’s bowlers managed to keep them in check. In particular, Kasun Rajitha and Chamika Karunaratne performed well, with Rajitha taking three wickets, and Karunaratne having decent figures at the end of the innings.
Despite this, the overall performance of the Sri Lankan bowlers wasn’t great, with Rajitha conceding 88 runs from his 10 overs and Dilshan Madushanka going at more than 7 runs per over.
Sri Lanka fought hard and had strong performances from Dasun Shanaka, who remained unbeaten at 108, and opener Pathum Nissanka who scored 72 runs. However, it was not enough to secure the win against India’s high score.
Sri Lanka’s batting in the first ODI against India was characterized by a number of partnerships that provided some resistance to India’s strong total, but ultimately fell short of the target.
The innings got off to a rocky start as they lost Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis within the first six overs, with Sri Lanka at 23/2 at that point.
However, Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva were able to steady the ship and build a solid partnership of 41 runs before Asalanka was dismissed by Indian pacer Umran Malik.
With the score at 64/3, Sri Lanka needed a big stand to keep the chase alive.
Dhananjaya de Silva and Pathum Nissanka formed a strong partnership, scoring 72 runs off 65 balls for the fourth wicket.
De Silva played an impressive knock of 47 runs off 40 balls. Nissanka’s 72 runs off 80 balls was somewhat slower than the team needed given the situation, but could be seen as a valuable learning experience for him.
However, Sri Lanka’s progress was halted as they lost four wickets for 45 runs, leaving only the tail-end players and skipper Dasun Shanaka to continue the chase.
The Indian pace attack was complemented by the spin of Yuzvendra Chahal and Hardik Pandya, who were able to build on the pressure created by the fast bowlers and pick up key wickets at important points in the match.
With Nissanka playing a beautiful knock of 72 runs and captain Dasun Shanaka also remained not out on 108, Sri Lanka reached 308 but still was unable to secure a win against India’s score.
It was clear that the Sri Lankan team fought hard, with contributions from several of their batsmen, but they were ultimately unable to maintain the required run rate to chase down India’s massive target of 373 runs.
India 373 for 7 (Kohli 113, Rohit 83, Gill 70, Rajitha 3-88) beat Sri Lanka 306 for 8 (Shanaka 108*, Nissanka 72, Malik 3-57, Siraj 2-30) by 67 runs
