Rohit, Kohli run riot
DOMINANT INDIA EXTEND SERIES LEAD TO 4-0
Colombo, Aug. 31: India thrashed Sri Lanka by 168 runs in the fourth one-day international to take a 4-0 lead in the five-match series in Colombo on Thursday.
Skipper Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma hit centuries to help India post 375/5 after they won the toss and elected to bat at the R. Premadasa Stadium. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 207 in 42.4 overs. Angelo Mathews top scored for Sri Lanka with 70. For India, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Hardik Pandya took two wickets each.
Earlier, Kohli’s powerpacked ton (131, 96b) complemented by Sharma’s sublime century enabled India to post a record 375/5.
India’s total was the highest posted by any visiting team in an ODI in Sri Lanka, bettering their own mark of 363/5 at the same ground in 2009. Courtesy skipper Kohli’s 29th ODI hundred and his 219-run second-wicket stand with an in-form Sharma (104, 88 balls), India were able to lay the foundation for an imposing total. Sharma, who hit back-to-back hundreds, now has 13 three- figure scores in the 50-over format. The Indian batsmen made merry as Manish Pandey utilised his first chance of the series
to the fullest
with an unbeaten 50 off 42 balls while skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni remained undefeated one short of a half-century score in his 300th ODI appearance.
Incidentally, Dhoni got a single off the penultimate delivery of the 50th over as he remained stranded on 49 not out — one short of what could have been his 100th international halfcentury. The Dhoni-Pandey unbroken partnership for the sixth wicket yielded 101 runs in only 12.2 overs. After winning the toss on a batting belter, skipper Kohli joined Sharma after Shikhar Dhawan (4) was dismissed trying to slash a Mathews delivery over point.
With the ball coming onto the bat, strokeplay became easy. Sharma initially took time to settle down as Kohli attacked the listless Sri Lankan bowling from the word go.