N ANANTHANARAYANAN

Virat Kohli stole the thunder again with a brilliant 82 to steer India to victory in the one-off Twenty20 game against Sri Lanka on Wednesday, signing off the tour with a perfect 9-0 victory margin across formats.

The India skipper’s 54-ball knock with seven fours and a six, after back-to-back centuries (131 and 110 not out) in the last two ODI wins at the R Premadasa Stadium, sealed the game by seven wickets.

Kohli fell nine runs from victory, caught off a tired flick to deep midwicket, but Sri Lankan hopes of a face-saving win were dashed by then.

He braved fatigue to share a 119-run third-wicket partnership with Manish Pandey, who hit the winning four to be unbeaten on 51.

India reached 174 for three in 19.2 overs in reply to Sri Lanka’s 170 for seven after Kohli won the toss and elected to bowl. The game was delayed by 40 minutes due to rain in the day.

Sri Lanka were guided to a challenging total by Dilshan Munaweera, who struck a 29-ball 53 (5x4, 4x6) and Ashan Priyanjan, who was 40 not out (40 b) after coming in as Milinda Siriwardana’s injury replacement.

But Kohli, who completed a rare all-win tour as skipper, left home fans disappointed with another brilliant effort. It was his third half-century on the tour to go with three centuries.

The familiar figure of Kohli arrived in the third over after Rohit Sharma fell for nine. KL Rahul, who flopped thrice in the middle order in the ODIs, looked assured after being restored to the opener’s slot.

Rahul (24 – 18 b, 3x4) was brilliantly caught by Dasun Shanaka off spinner Seekuge Prasanna, but Pandey played the