Virat Kohli’s 45th ODI century and half-centuries from the Indian openers propelled India to their 22nd 300 plus ODI total against Sri Lanka in the first ODI of the threematch series at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati on Tuesday. Shubhman Gill (70) and Rohit Sharma (83) laid a perfect platform for the Indian batters as they stitched a 143- run opening stand. Virat’s 113 made sure that India did not lose momentum as KL Rahul (39) and Shreyas Iyer (28) chipped in with useful cameos. The Indian captain made full use of the excellent batting conditions on offer and played a plethora of attacking shots on his return to bring up India’s fifty in the seventh over by smashing two sixes and a four.
India were 75/0 at the end of the 10th over with the opening pair making a mockery of the Sri Lankan bowling attack. Rohit reached his 47th ODI fifty in the 13th over of the match with a boundary. The righthander took 41 deliveries to reach the milestone. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma completed his 9,500 runs in ODI cricket on Tuesday. The batter accomplished this landmark during India’s first ODI against Sri Lanka at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium. In the match, Rohit scored 83 off 67 balls with nine fours and three sixes. His runs came at a strike rate of 123.88. The batter seemed to be racing towards a hundred but was cleaned up by pacer Dilshan Madushanka. Gill reached his fifth ODI fifty in the 17th over from 51 deliveries. The 23-year-old struck a hattrick of boundaries while Rohit smashed a six off Dunith Wellalage as India scored 19 runs in the 19th over. The pair stitched a 143-run partnership inside 20 overs to lay an excellent platform for the middle-order batters before Gill was dismissed in the 20th over for 70 (60). Rohit was looking set for a big score in his comeback inning but was dismissed for 83(67) in the 23rd over.