Sunday, July 22, 2012

India defeat Sri Lanka by 21 Runs in Hambantota ODI Cricket Match



Virat Kohli set an century to help Indian team's 21 runs victory over Sri Lanka in the opening one-day international match in Hambantota on 21 July 2012.


India lost opener Gautam Gambhir in the third over after electing to bat but Sehwag and Kohli propped up the innings with their big stand.

Virat Kohli set a hard target with a 173-run stand for the second wicket with opener Virender Sehwag, who hit a 96 runs with the help of 10 fours.

Virat Kohli hits nine fours in his 106 runs innings.

Virat Kohli scored 106 for his 12th one-day hundred, and the fourth in the last five matches, as India scored 314-6 before restricting Sri Lanka to 293-9 in the day-night game for a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Virender Sehwag had not even opened his account when he was dropped by Tillakaratne Dilshan while Virat Kohli survived on 16 when Perera failed to grasp a difficult catch.

Virender Sehwag looked set to complete his 16th one-day hundred before he was run out.

Suresh Raina scored 50 runs out of 45 balls and Dhoni made 35 runs from 29 deliveries. Indian team scored 86 in the last 10 Overs.

Perera finished with three wickets including Suresh Raina and Mahendre Dhoni while Nuwan Kulasekara and Angelo Mathews each took one wicket.

Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara defied the Indian bowlers, top-scoring with 133 for his 14th one-day hundred. He hit 12 fours in 151 balls before being out by bowler Umesh Yadav in the 48th over.

Sangakkara scored 78 runs for the seventh wicket with Thisara Perera (44), but their runs came too late to stop India from winning the opening match.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, Irfan Pathan and Umesh Yadav each took two wickets for victory of Indian team.
                       
"We've got some big-hitters at the end, but we left too much for them to do. We never had the momentum going into the last 10 overs," said Mahela Jayawardene.

"We'll try to refocus and come back strong."

"Sehwag and Kohli batted very well," said India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

"This was one game where I felt the toss would be crucial. In the second innings, there was variable bounce and it was a little difficult to bat on."

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