Rajkot: India registered their highest ever ODI total (414/7) to make the Sri Lankans sweat bullets in the first ODI at Rajkot. The batsmen made merry in the absence of Muralitharan and everyone got into the act, lead by centurion Sehwag, MS Dhoni and the ever so graceful Sachin Tendulkar.
Ravindra Jadeja’s high hitting towards the end helped the hosts cross the 400-run mark after some wickets tumbled in an effort to take the pyrotechnics to a new level.
Soon after crossing the 300-run mark, Sehwag-Dhoni duo seemed poised to take the team’s score past 450, but the dream was cut short when, first Chanaka Welegedara and then later, Dilhara Fernando dismissed Sehwag (146) and Dhoni (72), respectively.
Sehwag had slammed his 12th ODI hundred in his typical style, less balls-more runs. This was his second ton against Sri Lanka and the islanders were left wondering what hit them as the Najafgarh blaster kept his aim simple- Smash everything out of the park!
Sri Lankan bowlers managed to pull the strings towards the end as they struck in quick succession to dismiss the deadly combo of Sehwag and Dhoni. The comeback did not stop there as Gautam Gambhir was claimed for eleven runs.
The middle order, however, could not offer the same boost as the predecessors and Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh got out while trying something new on the pitch. It was a good scoring morning on the run-friendly Madhavrao Scindia Ground and the spectators had to scream overtime to keep up with the Indian boundaries.
Ravindra Jadeja’s high hitting towards the end helped the hosts cross the 400-run mark after some wickets tumbled in an effort to take the pyrotechnics to a new level.
Soon after crossing the 300-run mark, Sehwag-Dhoni duo seemed poised to take the team’s score past 450, but the dream was cut short when, first Chanaka Welegedara and then later, Dilhara Fernando dismissed Sehwag (146) and Dhoni (72), respectively.
Sehwag had slammed his 12th ODI hundred in his typical style, less balls-more runs. This was his second ton against Sri Lanka and the islanders were left wondering what hit them as the Najafgarh blaster kept his aim simple- Smash everything out of the park!
Sri Lankan bowlers managed to pull the strings towards the end as they struck in quick succession to dismiss the deadly combo of Sehwag and Dhoni. The comeback did not stop there as Gautam Gambhir was claimed for eleven runs.
The middle order, however, could not offer the same boost as the predecessors and Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh got out while trying something new on the pitch. It was a good scoring morning on the run-friendly Madhavrao Scindia Ground and the spectators had to scream overtime to keep up with the Indian boundaries.
The morning was written in India’s ink even as Sachin Tendulkar was the first wicket to fall. The maestro was clean bowled for a score of 69 runs by Dilhara Fernando. Tendulkar had blasted a quick fire half-century against a hapless Sri Lankan outfit, his 92nd in the ODI format.
Sri Lanka had won the toss in the morning and put India in to bat first, in hopes of utilizing the morning movement of the pitch but the experienced opening duo ensured that the hosts did not face an early hiccup
Sri Lanka had won the toss in the morning and put India in to bat first, in hopes of utilizing the morning movement of the pitch but the experienced opening duo ensured that the hosts did not face an early hiccup
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