HAMBANTOTA — Virat Kohli cracked his third consecutive cricket century against Sri Lanka to lead India to a comfortable 21-run win in the first one-day international of the tour on Saturday.
Kohli made 106 off 113 balls and shared a 173-run second-wicket stand with Virender Sehwag (96 off 97 balls) as India capitalised on a good batting surface to pile up 314 for six wickets.
Sri Lanka failed to gain momentum in their run chase and lost wickets regularly to reply with 293 for nine despite a courageous 14th one-day century from Kumar Sangakkara, who made 133 off 151 balls.
Meanwhile India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his teammates have been fined for the team’s slow over-rate during their 21-run win over Sri Lanka on Saturday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said.
“The India side was ruled to be an over short of its target when time allowances were taken into consideration,” the ICC said in a statement yesterday. Accordingly, match referee Chris Broad has imposed a 20% fine on Dhoni, while each of his teammates were docked 10% of their match fees.
With the win at Hambantota, India have taken a 1-0 lead in the five-match series and play the second one-dayer at the same venue on tomorrow.
