India defeated Sri Lanka by 67 runs in the first one-day international on Tuesday after Virat Kohli scored a brilliant attacking century.
Following India’s invitation to bat first at the beginning of the three-match series in Guwahati, Kohli struck 113 off 87 balls to propel the team to 373-7.
To build the massive total, skipper Rohit Sharma (83) and fellow opener Shubman Gill (70) scored 143 runs.
After that, the bowlers, led by Mohammed Siraj, kept Sri Lanka at 306-8, giving India a 1-0 series lead.
After opening batsman Pathum Nissanka’s score of 72, skipper Dasun Shanaka scored the most runs with an unbeaten 108, but the runs could only reduce the tourists’ loss margin.
Kohli stood out with his 45th ODI hundred and 73rd across all formats as he took off his helmet to bask in the stadium’s applause and survived two dropped catches on 52 and 81.
Kasun Rajitha, who was also bowling when wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis and Shanaka dropped the star batsman, was Kasun Rajitha’s third lucky victim.
In the fourth over, Gill scored three boundaries off his debutant left-arm quick Dilshan Madushanka, and Rohit scored two sixes and a four off Rajitha to kick off the chase on a pitch that is conducive to batting.
After missing India’s 2-1 T20I series win, Rohit, who returned to captain the team, reached fifty with a four, and Gill reached fifty shortly after.
Gill defeated Dunith Wellalage with three consecutive fours in one over before being bowled by Shanaka at a medium-pace.
With regular boundaries, Rohit tried to keep up the attack, but Madushanka ended his innings with a length ball that hit the Indian skipper on the inside edge.
The remainder of the innings went to Kohli, who has now scored a hundred in two ODI matches since coming back from a long stretch of poor play last year.
After losing two early wickets, including Mendis, who was bowled for a duck off Siraj, Sri Lanka never got going in response.
With his fighting knock and a 72-run fourth-wicket stand with Dhananjaya de Silva, who made 47, Nissanka attempted to give the chase some life.
Shanaka and Rajitha put together an unbeaten 100-run partnership that saw Sri Lanka reach 206-8 in the 38th over.
With his rapid pace, Umran Malik was able to take three wickets. The second match will take place on Thursday at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
