Micromax Cup Cricket: India Win The First ODI Against Sri Lanka!

India defeated Sri Lanka by 21 runs in the first one day international cricket match at Hambantota in Sri Lanka today.

India won the toss and elected to bat first. The start was a little shaky with Gautam Gambhir getting out early and Sehwag, joining the team after a break, was living dangerously. But with the ever dependable Virat Kohli the duo steadied the innings and very soon anchored the team for a big total. Settling down to his attacking best Sehwag looked good for a century, but was unfortunately run out for 96. Kohli showed his class by notching up his fourth hundred in five matches scoring 106 runs off 113 balls. With a sound knock of 54 by Suresh Raina and a cameo by skipper Dhoni Team India reached an imposing total of 314/6 in allotted fifty overs. For Sri Lanka all their bowlers proved to be expensive and only Perera managed to capture three Indian wickets.

Set a daunting target of 315 runs Sri Lanka too started shakily losing Dilshan early to Irfan Pathan. They kept on losing wickets at regular intervals with only Sangakkara solidly defending one end. Skipper Mahela Jaywardene too fell for a low score. At 191/6 in 38 overs the job looked to be almost done for India, but Sangakkara went on to score a brilliant century and laid a challenging partnership with Perera--the most successful bowler in the Indian innings. The duo threatened to take the match away from India.  

Irfan Pathan and R Ashwin bowled economically for India. Coming back into the team Zaheer Khan conceded 63 run in his 10 overs capturing only one Sri Lankan wicket. Pathan, Yadav and Ashwin took two wickets each.

Finally the target proved to be too tall for Sri Lanka to overhaul. Sangakkara’s wicket in the 48^th over was the final blow. He made 133 runs, but failed to see his team through. Their innings folded up for 293 falling short by 21 runs.

India has made a good beginning winning the first one day international, a feat they normally fail to accomplish on most foreign tours. Virat Kohli was the natural choice for the man of the match. India go up 1-0 against Sri Lanka in the five match series with the second one day international coming up on July 24. The Scorecard: