India thrash Sri Lanka by 67 runs in first ODI, take 1-0 series lead

India rode on batting maestro Virat Kohli’s 73rd international hundred to beat Sri Lanka by 67 runs in the first ODI and take 1-0 lead in the three-match series here on Tuesday.Kohli’s 113 off 87 balls set up India’s big total of 373 for 7 after the home team was invited to bat. Skipper Rohit Sharma slammed 83 off 67 balls while Shubman Gill made a 60-ball 70.Umran Malik (3/57) and Mohammed Siraj (2/30) shared five wickets between them as India restricted Sri Lanka to 306 for 8 in 50 overs.Captain Dasun Shanaka (108 not out) top-scored for Sri Lanka while Pathum Nissanka contributed 72.Virat Kohli, Player of the Match, said, I don’t think there was anything different. My preparation and intent always remain the same. I thought I was hitting the ball nicely. It was close to the template I play with, I understood we needed an extra 25-30 runs. I tried to understand the conditions in the second half. Tried to get a comfortable total for us on the board. The one thing I learnt was desperation doesn’t get you anywhere. You do not need to complicate things. You go out there and play without any fear, I can’t hold on to things. You have to play for the right reasons and almost play every game like it’s your last and just be happy about it. The game is going to move on. I am not going to play forever, I am in a happy space and enjoying my time’.Rohit Sharma said, ‘Pretty impressed actually. We started off well with the bat, it was a great effort from all batters. The platform was set for all the batters, I thought we could have bowled better. Don’t want to be too critical, as the conditions were not easy. It wasn’t easy to bowl under the lights especially when dew comes in. Everyone needs to come to the party if you want to win, but we bowled well upfront. You got to be in the game to take those half chances. You are not going to have a perfect game always, there are certain areas to work on as a group. All the eleven members need to put an effort collectively. I had no idea Shami did that (run-out), he was batting on 98. The way he batted was brilliant, we cannot get him out like that. Not something that we thought off, hats off to him, he played really well’.