Colombo, August 1: Young India was to the fore again. Two of India's most exciting batsmen, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina showed why they are regarded so as they helped their team register a comprehensive six-wicket win in the fourth ODI and hand Sri Lanka one of their rare series defeat at home.
Kohli and Raina set the Premadasa stadium alight with their superlative strokeplay under lights to post a series clinching 146-run partnership, rendering the last game in Pallekele academic. Kohli, who hammered his second century of the series, is fast emerging as the top ODI batsman in the world today. Ace finisher Raina is not far behind, getting his third half-century of the series.
The two had come together at a stage when the match could have gone either way but the way the two took control of the situation, injury-depleted Sri Lankans did not stand a chance. The performance of the two overshadowed the heroics of part-time bowler Manoj Tiwary who, with his four-wicket haul, had helped India restrict the home team to 251 for eight which the visitors overhauled with eight overs to spare.
Ostensibly, Manoj Tiwary was picked in the team to showcase his batting prowess. But even before he could lay his hands on the bat, he showed his skills with the ball, with his innocuous-looking leg-spin.
After the Sri Lankan top-order had given the home team a solid start, it was the part-time bowlers led by Tiwary, who helped India to restrict the opponents total to a manageable proportion. Such was the effectiveness of India's part-time bowlers, they bowled as many as 22 overs for 112 runs and five wickets. Tiwary's figures would have been even more impressive if he had not conceded 18 runs in the last over of the innings.
It was, however, surprising that skipper MS Dhoni continued to persist with non-regular bowlers when the pace trio of Zaheer Khan, Ashok Dinda and Irfan Pathan had four overs each left. Probably the slowness of the wicket prompted the Indian skipper to rely on the slower bowlers.
After Upal Tharanga and Dilshan had given a solid platform of 91 runs and Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal continuing on with the good work, subsequent batsmen struggled to get a move-on. The slowness of the pitch may have played a part. The only batsmen, apart from the openers, who showed the ball could be hit were Chandimal and Thirimanne, during their half-century stand for the third wicket.
Sri Lanka seemed to be running away towards a big total but Tiwary's introduction in the 32nd over triggered a slide. Tiwary with his looping flight foxed the batsmen and ran thought the middle order, even getting rid of the experienced Mahela Jayawardene. Thirimanne was bowled by Ashwin for 47 after a patient innings to leave Sri Lanka at 219 for 8.
But the Sri Lanka tail bit back. Dhoni persisted with Tiwary, who was hammered by Malinga for a six and then went for 18 in the final over. That helped Sri Lanka touch the 250-mark to give their bowlers a target to put some pressure on the mighty Indian batting which was not to be.
Landmarks and milestones:
- Virat Kohli is the first Indian batsman to register 1,000 ODI runs in successive years - 1,381 (ave.47.62) in 34 matches in 2011 and 1,003 (ave.77.15) in 15 matches in 2012 so far.
- Kohli is the first batsman to manage five hundreds this year, which have come in his last eight innings - four against Sri Lanka and one against Pakistan.
- Of his 13 hundreds, eight resulted in successful chases for India. Only three batsmen have recorded more hundreds in successful chases - Sachin Tendulkar (14), Sanath Jayasuriya (9) and Saeed Anwar (9).
- Kohli is averaging 76.57 in successful chases - 1,991 runs in 34 matches. Only three batsmen have averaged better than Kohli - Mahendra Singh Dhoni (101.40), Michael Clarke (89.20) and Michael Bevan (86,25) (minimum 1000 runs).
- India became the third team to register 400 wins in one-dayers, joining Australia (490) and Pakistan (416).
- India's success rate in ODIs is 52.13 - 400 wins, 367 losses, 6 tied games and 35 no-results out of 808 played.
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