Gambhir, Kohli tons hand India series
Saturday, 26 December 2009
KOLKATA, India, Dec 25 (AFP): Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli hammered impressive centuries to power India to a seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the fourth one-day international here Thursday.
Kohli made 107 for his maiden hundred and Gambhir an unbeaten 150 for his seventh century as India surpassed Sri Lanka's 315-6 with 11 balls to spare in the day-night match for an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
The duo were involved in a 224-run stand, India's best for the third wicket against Sri Lanka in one-day internationals. The previous highest was 221 between Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh in Colombo in February 2009.
The fifth and final one-dayer will be played in Delhi Sunday.
Sri Lanka rode on opener Upul Tharanga's robust 118 to set a challenging target in the must-win match that was interrupted by a power outage.
They were 307-6 in 49.2 overs after electing to bat when play was held up for 23 minutes due to a power failure in one of the light towers at the Eden Gardens.
Sri Lanka put India under pressure when paceman Suranga Lakmal removed openers Virender Sehwag (10) and Sachin Tendulkar (eight) in his lively opening spell to reduce the hosts to 23-2 in the fourth over.
Gambhir and Kohli then denied Sri Lanka success for nearly 36 overs with their rich strokeplay, gathering runs comfortably during their big stand. Gambhir also completed 3,000 one-day runs during his 137-ball knock.
The 21-year-old Kohli offered just one chance in his 114-ball knock when wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara failed to latch on to an edge off spinner Tillakaratne Dilshan. He was then on 88 in a total of 207-2.
He hit one six and 11 fours, including four in a row off paceman Lasith Malinga, while Gambhir's knock contained 14 boundaries.
India 317 for 3 (Gambhir 150*, Kohli 107, Lakmal 2-55) beat Sri Lanka 315 for 6 (Tharanga 118, Sangakkara 60, Zaheer 2-49) by seven wickets
Kohli made 107 for his maiden hundred and Gambhir an unbeaten 150 for his seventh century as India surpassed Sri Lanka's 315-6 with 11 balls to spare in the day-night match for an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
The duo were involved in a 224-run stand, India's best for the third wicket against Sri Lanka in one-day internationals. The previous highest was 221 between Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh in Colombo in February 2009.
The fifth and final one-dayer will be played in Delhi Sunday.
Sri Lanka rode on opener Upul Tharanga's robust 118 to set a challenging target in the must-win match that was interrupted by a power outage.
They were 307-6 in 49.2 overs after electing to bat when play was held up for 23 minutes due to a power failure in one of the light towers at the Eden Gardens.
Sri Lanka put India under pressure when paceman Suranga Lakmal removed openers Virender Sehwag (10) and Sachin Tendulkar (eight) in his lively opening spell to reduce the hosts to 23-2 in the fourth over.
Gambhir and Kohli then denied Sri Lanka success for nearly 36 overs with their rich strokeplay, gathering runs comfortably during their big stand. Gambhir also completed 3,000 one-day runs during his 137-ball knock.
The 21-year-old Kohli offered just one chance in his 114-ball knock when wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara failed to latch on to an edge off spinner Tillakaratne Dilshan. He was then on 88 in a total of 207-2.
He hit one six and 11 fours, including four in a row off paceman Lasith Malinga, while Gambhir's knock contained 14 boundaries.
India 317 for 3 (Gambhir 150*, Kohli 107, Lakmal 2-55) beat Sri Lanka 315 for 6 (Tharanga 118, Sangakkara 60, Zaheer 2-49) by seven wickets