India demolish Lanka by 6 wickets, take 1-0 lead in series
India demolish Lanka by 6 wickets, take 1-0 lead in series
Dambulla: An unflappable Mahendra Singh Dhoni led by example as India relied on a clinical all-round display to thrash Sri Lanka by six wickets and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match cricket ODI series on Wednesday.
Chasing 247, India rode on substantial contributions from Gautam Gambhir (62) and Suresh Raina (54) before losing both the set batsmen but Dhoni (61 not out) was his composed self as he guided the team to victory with 11 balls to spare.
The ageing Sanath Jayasuriya’s 28th ODI century went in vain as the Indians never allowed the islanders to break loose on a slow track. Kumar Sangakkara contributed 44 as Sri Lanka posted 246 for seven wickets in their allotted 50 overs.
Both the teams now move to Colombo for the second match on Saturday.
This was India’s sixth ODI win in a row, coming after their 5-0 whitewash of England at home.
Jayasuriya also became the second man, after Sachin Tendulkar, to score 13,000 runs in ODIs when he steered Ishant in the 14th over for his 37th run.
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