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."

Virat Kohli 133 Off 86 Balls Vs Sri Lanka Commonwealth Bank Series Match...

Virat Kohli smashed 16 boundaries and two sixes during his whirlwind 133 off 86-ball knock. 

India will now have to await the result of the last league match between Australia and Sri Lanka to know their fate. They will qualify to the finals only if Australia beat Sri Lanka in the last league game.

Australia, who are already through to the finals are leading the table with 19 points while Sri Lanka and India are tied on 15 points with the latter having completed their league engagements.

Much as Kohli deserves to be applauded, no less critical roles were played by openers Virender Sehwag (30, 16 balls, 5x4, 1x6) and Sachin Tendulkar (39, 30 balls, 5x4) as well as the two subsequent batsmen, Gautam Gambhir (63, 64 balls, 4x4) and Suresh Raina (40, 24 balls, 3x4, 1x6).

Kohli shared two century stands - 115 runs off 109 balls with Gambhir and then of 120 from only 55 balls with Raina.

India always kept themselves in tune with the required run-rate of eight per over, reaching 160/2 in 20 overs; being 230/3 in the 30th over and the final 91 runs came off only 40 balls.

Commonwealth Bank Series Match 11 India vs Sri Lanka - Highlights

India kept their hopes alive of qualifying for the finals of the Commonwealth Bank tri-series by thrashing Sri Lanka by seven wickets at the Bellerive Oval on Tuesday.

Chasing 321 in 40 overs to get a bonus point, Virat Kohli smashed an unbeaten 133 to finish the game off in 36.4 overs.

India made a brisk start in their chase, as openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag took the attack to the opposition.

Sehwag looked aggressive right from the word go, and hit five boundaries and a six off just 16 balls. He was dismissed by Farveez Maharoof.

Tendulkar hit five boundaries during his 30-ball stay, scoring 39.

After India lost their openers, Gautam Gambhir and Kohli teamed up to lead their side’s charge. Gambhir and Kohli added 115 runs for the third wicket.

Gambhir’s innings came to an end when he was runout for 63 which came off 64 balls.

Kohli clobbered 16 boundaries and two sixes during his stunning knock of 133 not out.

Sri Lankan Innings :

Earlier, India produced a listless bowling diaplay as Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara slammed a century each to power Sri Lanka to an imposing 320 for four.

Dilshan equaled his career-best score with an unbeaten 160, his 11th century in 230 ODIs and first in a year, while Sangakkara made a quick fire 105 to register the 13th century of his career.

Sent into bat, Dilshan anchored Sri Lanka's innings and hit 11 fours and three huge sixes during his 165-ball unbeaten stay.

Sangakkara, on the other hand, was at his destructive best, piling up his 105 runs off just 87 balls with eight boundaries and two huge hits over the fence.

Brief Scores : Sri Lanka 320 for 4 in 50 overs (Tillakaratne Dilshan 160*, Kumar Sangakkara 105; Ravindra Jadeja 1 for 43) lost to India 321 for 3 in 36.4 overs (Virat Kohli 133*, Gautam Gambhir 63, Suresh Raina 40*; Farveez Maharoof 1 for 21) by 7 wickets. 

Man of the Match : Virat Kohli

Commonwealth Bank Series Match 5 India vs Sri Lanka - Highlights