IND vs SL, 1st ODI:  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

India went into overdrive after a stunning 143-run opening stand between Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma.

After that, Virat Kohli scored a century in his 45th ODI to propel the total to new heights.

Pathum Nissanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, and Dasun Shanaka all contributed half-decent innings to Sri Lanka’s aggressive response. However, India had set a massive goal of 374. The chase became permanently doomed when Sri Lanka fell to 23 for 2 and 64 for 3 against excellent seam bowling from India. Nonetheless, Sri Lanka did not give up easily; they reached 306 for 8 with Shanaka scoring his second ODI century in the final over.

India’s seamers took seven wickets between them, with Umran Malik taking the most with 3 for 57. However, this game’s contours were determined by the hosts’ top three. Rohit hit 83 off 67, Gill hit 70 off 60, and Kohli hit 113 off 87, all of which were dominant. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul made contributions as well, preventing the run rate from dropping in the middle overs.

India appeared to be able to reach 400 at times, but Sri Lanka’s bowlers didn’t completely collapse, with Kasun Rajitha (who took three wickets) and Chamika Karunaratne bowling decently at the end. Naturally, everyone’s figures remained a mess, with Rajitha scoring 88 off his 10, and opening partner Dilshan Madushanka scoring more than seven runs per over. The pitch was not particularly favorable to spinners. Additionally, the outfield moved quickly.

Gill’s was the most pure of India’s outstanding innings, reliant on his stunning timing, particularly through the off side. And the knock was the first sign that a huge total was on the way. In the initial overs, he creamed deliveries that were not particularly wide or short square through the offside.

Gill had jumped to 25 from 17 by the end of the fifth, but Rohit took over. He hammered Rajitha for two sixes and a four in a particularly disheartening sequence for Sri Lanka, using his renowned pull shot. One of those sixes came after he had charged the bowler. His innings became increasingly dismissive.

They raced to their fifths, their scoring rate barely tempered by the field’s spreading and the arrival of significant spin. Both batters could have been out in their 40s if the standing umpire had given them out lbw (the reviews were denied due to the umpire’s call). The partnership was not without its share of luck.

Kohli also had some luck, getting run out twice, once on 52 and once on 81, with Rajitha bowling. He also sprinted through the middle overs with ferocity. He charged Shanaka to pound him through mid-on for his first boundary, was brutal against spinners’ length errors, and strong down the ground against quicks.

After coming down the track, he hit a six over wide midfield off Dhananjaya de Silva to reach his half-century. With approximately 35 bowled overs remaining, he and Rahul were well into a partnership that yielded 90 runs off 70 deliveries. While Kohli made shots everywhere, he scored most notably in the arc between mid-on and midwicket. India were already pushing 350 when he hit his hundred off his 80th ball.

However, India only scored 70 runs in their final nine overs, in part due to Kohli’s inability to fully explode in the final over. After 41 overs, the score was 303-3, making 400 possible.

Sri Lanka started poorly, despite Nissanka’s fetching offside goals in the Powerplay. This extremely steep chase never measured up to them. Mohammed Siraj bowled Kusal Mendis off the inside edge in his subsequent over after removing Avishka Fernando for 5. At the conclusion of the first powerplay, India was 75 for 0. Sri Lanka’s required rate was already higher than eight an over, and they were 38 for 2. Sri Lanka appeared to have no chance of winning when Charith Asalanka failed to review a wrong caught behind decision against Malik in the 14th over.

However, there were those who attempted to restart the chase. For the fourth wicket, De Silva and Nissanka scored 72 off 65, with De Silva scoring a pleasing 47 off 40. Given the circumstances, Nissanka’s 72 from 80 was probably a little slow, but it may serve as a further milestone in his development.

However, after Sri Lanka lost four wickets for 45 runs, leaving Shanaka alone at the tail, the entire endeavor became focused on getting Shanaka as many runs as possible, with the victory long since lost. He took a long time to get going, hitting only one four and one six and making only 31 of 41 attempts.

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But he started smashing it soon after. He hit 50 out of 50 balls before turning down numerous singles to give No. 10 Rajitha reached triple-figures off the penultimate ball of the innings after playing only the last two balls of most overs. He scored a century in 87 deliveries.

#SuryakumarYadav in conversation with Guwahati centurion 💯 🏏 #ViratKohli𓃵 🫡🤩🥳#INDvsSL #ViratKohli𓃵 #RohitSharma𓃵 #SuryakumarYadav #IndianCricketTeam #SachinTendulkar pic.twitter.com/GWcroYuzmB

— Harish Gangadia (@ViralHarsh74) January 10, 2023