Centuries from Kohli, Gill and Siraj's four-wicket burst help India crush Lanka by 317 runs & sweep series
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Greenfield stadium here in Thiruvananthapuram has a history of producing low-scoring one-sided contests. On Sunday, the trend of one-sided contests at the venue didn't change but an exhibition of top-quality batting from Indians altered the pattern of low scores produced at the stadium.
And the lead protagonists in India's sublime batting show were Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill. The duo helped themselves to classy hundreds against a hapless Sri Lankan bowling attack to help India pile up 390 for five in 50 overs in the inconsequential third ODI of the series.
Kohli broke Sachin Tendulkar's record for most ODI centuries on home soil with his 21st hundred in India and remained unbeaten on 166 (110 balls, 13x4, 8x6). Gill made 116 (97 balls, 14x4, 2x6) with some exquisite strokeplay. If anyone thought it was a placid batting wicket seeing how well India batted, that theory was quickly put to rest by Indian seamer Mohammed Siraj who ran through the rival batting line-up with an inspired opening spell to help bundle out the Sri Lankans for a paltry 73.
India's emphatic 317-run win was the highest margin of victory in ODIs and displayed the gulf in class between both teams. The victory also handed the hosts their fourth ODI series whitewash against the Sri Lankans. The modest crowd that turned out for the third ODI here must be thanking Indian skipper Rohit Sharma for winning the toss and opting to bat as they got to see India's batting might.
1/10:Milestone man Virat Kohli leads India to record ODI win against Sri Lanka
AP
2/10:Virat Kohli
<p>Virat Kohli is looking hungrier for big runs and has started producing those with consummate ease and effortless strokeplay. </p>AP
3/10:Tendulkar's record broken
<p>On Sunday, Kohli broke Sachin Tendulkar's record of 20 ODI centuries on home soil and his unbeaten 166 was the 46th of his career in this format.</p>AP
4/10:Past Jayawardene
<p>During the course of his innings, Kohli also went past Mahela Jayawardene to rise to fifth in ODI's all-time run-scorers chart. </p>AP
5/10:Imperious strokeplay
<p>But much more than those numbers, it is the manner in which Kohli is scoring the runs that will be giving the rival bowlers sleepless nights. </p>AP
6/10:Return to form
<p>Kohli started showing signs of returning to form in the Asia Cup last year. </p>PTI
7/10:T20 form into ODIs
<p>Kohli's match-winning unbeaten 82 against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup was a classic and he translated the T20 form that he showed in the latter half of last year into ODIs. </p>AP
8/10:The suitable format
<p>The longer format also gives Kohli time and space to pace his innings. </p>AP
9/10:3 tons in 4 innings
<p>After going century-less for more than three years, Kohli has now three tons in his last four innings. </p>PTI
10/10:Ominous touch
<p>On Sunday, Kohli looked in ominous touch the moment he arrived at the crease. </p>APThe openers didn't find runs easy to come in the first three overs as the ball tended to stop on the wicket after pitching. But the sixth over of the innings, bowled by Lahiru Kumara, opened the floodgates. Rohit deposited the first ball over the mid-wicket fence to bring his first six of the match before taking a single.
Gill smashed the next four deliveries for fours to fetch 23 runs from the over. There was no stopping India after that as the Indian batsmen pierced the gap at will and found the fence when desired.
Rohit must be kicking himself for the manner in which he got out with the bowlers at his mercy. He pulled a Chamika Karunaratne delivery straight into the hands of Avishka Fernando at deep square leg to be dismissed for 42.
Kohli joined Gill and started with a boundary off the second ball he faced. In the next over of Jeffrey Vandersay, Kohli smashed two successive fours, the first a delightful cover drive and when the bowler pitched the next ball short, he cut it to backward point for a four. Kohli was up and running and he didn't stop till the last ball of the Indian innings.
Though Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka kept rotating his bowlers, it hardly made an impression on Kohli or Gill. The pitch wasn't completely batting-friendly as some balls kept low. While the Indian pair adapted to conditions skillfully, the Lankan bowlers failed to exploit it.
The two put together a 131-run stand for the second wicket off just 84 balls. Gill matched Kohli stroke for stroke and looked at ease against the pacers and spinners. He hit some sweetly-timed drives of the backfoot and also some delightful cover drives. Gill brought up his second international hundred of 89 balls but was out bowled by Rajitha in the 34th over.
(PTI Photo)
The stage was set for Kohli to take over. Shreyas Iyer played a cameo off 38 but it was Kohli who took the score close to 400 as India smashed 116 runs in the last 10 overs with Kohli contributing 84 of those.
