Kohli Blitz Downs Sri Lanka
A blistering century from Virat Kohli sealed India’s victory against Sri Lanka with a bonus point and left Sri Lanka’s game against Australia on Friday as a must win affair.
Chasing an improbable 321 for victory inside 40 overs, it seemed an unlikely result. However, India’s best batsman all summer, Kohli, turned in his best ODI performance to seal the win and leave Sri Lanka in shock.
India’s chase needed a lightening start if they were to have any chance of causing an upset, and that is what they got. Sachin Tendulkar, who looked like he would be playing his last game in Australia, and Virender Sehwag got India off to a flyer as they posted 54 runs inside seven overs.
The aggressive start has been a vital component that has been missing from India’s past performances. On Tuesday night, in a must win situation, their batsman showed that they are still able to play with an intensity that has been lacking.
Tendulkar and Sehwag both played with freedom that appeared to have abandoned them all series; however, Sri Lanka had removed both of them by the 10th over to slow the run rate. The Sri Lankans were sadly mistaken as Kohli and Gautam Gambhir reassured the Indian public that when the big guns retire they will be there to take up the mantle.
A 115 run partnership between the pair saw India march on towards their target maintaining the required run rate. Both teams opted to hold off the power plays, and the tactic seemed to work in India’s favour. Kohli and Gambhir had little trouble running the singles and twos while still dispatching any loose deliveries to the boundary.
If Sri Lanka was worried about restricting India, their concerns were heightened when Faveez Maharoof was forced to leave the field with a suspected back injury. His steady line and length bowling was sorely missed as Mahela Jayawardena for once looked short of answers.
With the required run-rate dropping, Sri Lanka took a punt and enforced the bowling powerplay in the 28th over. The move paid immediate dividends as Gambhir was run out for 63 runs off 64 balls. His wicket surprisingly brought Suresh Raina to the wicket ahead of India’s finisher Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The wicket did not slow down the Indians, but rather appeared to signal to Kohli that his time had come to unleash on the Sri Lankans bowlers. His quality with the bat had been on display all summer, and tonight he showed that he could mix class with aggression. A collection of flicks and powerful drives to the boundary, coupled with poor bowling from the Sri Lankans, saw Kohli steadily bring down the asking rate.
Suresh Raina, who has had a quiet series to date, provided the perfect partner as he too punished the undisciplined bowling on show. The pair put on an astounding 120 runs in 19 overs to see their team comfortably secure the victory, with 3.2 overs to spare.
Kohli’s contribution was highlighted by his century, his ninth of his career, and no doubt his best to date.
Sri Lanka’s bowlers were far from their best as they failed to defend the mammoth 320, as Lasith Malinga went for a whopping 96 runs in 7.4 overs for only one wicket. Maharoof and Rangana Herath, who also appeared to have suffered an injury, were solely missed by Sri Lanka as they were only able to complete 7 overs between them for 41. Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara conceded between them a total of 167 runs in 15.4 overs.
Earlier in the day Sri Lanka turned in their best batting performance, as both Kumar Sangakarra and Tillakaratne Dilshan posted centuries apiece to take Sri Lanka to 320 in their 50 overs. Building on a steady opening partnership, Sri Lanka’s senior pair played aggressive hands to seemingly put the game out of India’s reach.
India’s shock win now means that Sri Lanka’s match against Australia on Friday is a must win encounter. Both India and Sri Lanka are level on points meaning that Sri Lanka will need to take some points away from Friday’s match, if Australia wins Sri Lanka will not make the finals as they are currently 1 win 2 losses on the head to head with India.
