It was one of those days for the men in blue when everything went their way and the world champions made most of that opportunity to hand a thumping defeat to Sri Lanka in the first one-dayer to take initiative in the series at Barabati Stadium on Sunday.
Team India showcased why they are one of the bests in the limited-overs format to clinch the series opener by a massive 169-run margin in Cuttack. The Islanders were fallen apart and bundled for a mere 194 in just 39.2 overs, in a chase of 364.
The Barabati deck looked completely different when the Lankans batted as the Indian bowlers led by Ishant Sharma didn’t allow them to get going at any point of time. Ishant was the wrecker-in-chief with four wickets, while Akshar Patel, Umesh Yadav picked two and Ravichandran Ashwin and Suresh Raina finished with one wicket each.
“Great to see some pace unleashed by India and it will be helpful in Australia,” stand-in skipper Virat Kohli said after the match. “(It was) great to see them (bowlers) hitting the line and lengths and bowl according to the field placements.”
Sri Lankan batsmen never looked chasing the total posted by India, courtesy centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane. On a pitch where Indian top-order fired, none of the Lankan batsmen managed to score a fifty.
Veteran Mahela Jayawardene (43) was the highest scorer for the Lankan Lions, but his dismissal also dashed any hopes Sri Lanka had to even get close to the target, leave alone chasing it. Indian seamers did well to finish off the innings by not allowing the Lankan tail to wag.
“Playing in India is always tough,” Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews said. “We had to prepare as much as we could in the last seven days. It’s a learning curve or the bowlers. It’s an opportunity for all those who played today because there’s not much experience in the camp.”
However, everything didn’t go according to the plan for Team India, as pacer Varun Aaron, who looked to be in good rhythm had to leave the field due to an injury niggle. Aaron couldn’t complete his full quota and only bowled four overs in the match.
“Aaron struggled after the fourth over and I don’t know the extent of his injury,” Kohli told about Aaron’s injury. “I didn’t want to take a chance and asked him to rest.”
Earlier, India made a cautious start with Dhawan (113) and Rahane (111) as the Lankan bowlers were on target in the first ten overs. The Indian duo, however, after surviving early scare went on to make a massive 231-run partnership for the opening wicket.
“The first 10 overs were slightly challenging but later on it got really easy for us,” Rahane said in the post-match interview. “Shikhar and I really enjoyed batting in the middle. The team asked me to open so I was happy to open.”
After their departure, Indian innings didn’t lost momentum as Suresh Raina struck a well-compiled half-century. Raina, who also completed his 5000 runs in ODIs, made a 34-ball 52 and stitched 52 runs partnership with Kohli (22).
Towards the end, Akshar (four-ball 14 not out) played a cameo to lift India past 350 by thrashing Dhammika Prasad in the final over. Ambati Rayudu (20-ball 27) and Wriddhiman Saha (eight-ball 10 not out) also chipped in to help Team India post a par-total on the board.
