India ride on Kohli and Gambhir’s brilliance to beat Sri Lanka

Riding on centuries from Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli, India defeated Sri Lanka by 50 runs in the second ODI of the Asia Cup at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here Tuesday.

A double century stand of 205 runs for the second wicket between Gambhir (100) and Man of the Match Kohli (108) took India to a competitive 304 for three in 50 overs.

India’s left arm pacer Irfan Pathan bagged four for 32 while Praveen Kumar and offie Ravichandran Ashwin shared six wickets to bowl out Sri Lanka for 254 in 45.1 overs.

Captain Mahela Jayawardene top scored for Sri Lanka with a quickfire 78 of 59 balls while former skipper Kumar Sangakkara made 65. They duo added valuable 94 runs for the second wicket and kept Sri Lanka on course.

But Sangakkar’s dismissal in the 36th over triggered a collapse and Sri Lanka slumped from 196 for three to 216 for seven. The Sri Lankan middle-order had to blame itself for the miserable performance as the batsmen got starts but couldn’t convert them intio big scores.

Earlier, asked to bat first, India rode the brilliance of Gambhir (100) and Kohli while captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (46) and Suresh Raina (22) quickly added 78 runs for the unbroken fourth-wicket stand to get the team past the 300-run mark.

India lost Sachin Tendulkar (6) early and Gambhir and Kohli took some time to settle down before opening their arms. The Delhi boys rotated the strike well to put the Sri Lanka fielders under pressure.

Kohli scored his second successive century after a splendid 133 against the Sri Lanka in Hobart, where India chased down a mammoth 321 in 36.4 overs. The young lad played another flawless innings against the Sri Lankans, smashing seven fours in his 120-ball stay.

Gambhir, however, was lucky as he survived twice before getting his ninth ODI century.He survived a dropped catch on 32 and a run out when on 94 with Dinesh Chandimal being the culprit and on both the occasion.

Gambhir was caught at long on trying to hoist Farveez Maharoof while Kohli two balls later was caught at extra cover with the score on 226 in 42.5 overs.

Dhoni and Raina gave India the much needed impetus. Raina carted Suranga Lakmal for 12 runs in the 47th over, while Dhoni plundered Nuwan Kulasekara for 17 runs the very next over to bring up the 50-run partnership between the two in just 30 balls.

Maharoof was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2-57, but Sri Lanka sorely missed Lasith Malinga’s skillful death bowling as the Indians ripped apart the Sri Lankan bowlers in the end.

The last five overs were very productive for India as they scored 63 runs. Dhoni and Raina ended the innings with an unbeaten partnership of 78 runs in just 43 balls.

India yet again failed to make good use of the third powerplay, managing just 34 runs, even though they had nine wickets in hand.