
India faced Sri Lanka in the three-match ODI series opener on Tuesday (January 10) in Guwahati. Being asked to bat first, India rode on captain Rohit Sharma's 83, Shubman Gill's 70 and Virat Kohli's 87-ball 113 to post a mammoth 373 for 7 and later defended the total with Sri Lanka managing 306 for 8 in their full quota of overs. Thus, India kicked off their 2023 ODI World Cup preparations in style with an easy 67-run win as former captain Kohli set the platform with his 45th ton in the format, 73rd overall.
Kohli came out to bat, at No. 3, with India well-placed courtesy an impressive 143-run opening stand between Rohit and Gill. Kohli stitched handy stands with Shreyas Iyer (28) and KL Rahul (39) to slam an impressive ton. His inning was a mixture of finding the boundaries and running hard between wickets but the former skipper wasn't pleased with vice-captain Hardik Pandya turning down a run during their 27-run fifth-wicket stand. The incident took place in the 43rd over when Kohli and Hardik completed a run but the former was keen to sneak in another single. Just then, he looked at Hardik and tried to persuade him but the vice-captain refused and turned down the chance to complete a double. Kohli wasn't impressed with Hardik and gave him a stare. The video of the incident has now gone viral on social media platforms:
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Taking about Sri Lanka's run-chase, they kept losing wickets at regular intervals despite some cracking shots from Pathum Nissanka (72)and Dhananjaya de Silva (47). Skipper Dasun Shanaka kept fighting till the end and stitched an unbeaten 100-run ninth-wicket stand with pacerKasun Rajitha (9 not out) as the Lankans ended on 306 for 8 with Shanaka being unbeaten on 108.
The second and penultimate ODI will take place at the iconic Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Thursday (January 12).