India vs Sri Lanka: As it happened ...

Mirpur: The unsung hero Gautam Gambhir (100 runs) and the pin-up boy of Indian cricket, Virat Kohli (108 runs) took centre stage as India defeated Sri Lanka by 50 runs in their opening encounter of the Asia Cup here at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur on Tuesday.

Here is how the match panned out ... 9.06 pm 46th Over : OUT!!! F.O.W. 254 all out Irfan Pathan completed the formality with the wicket of Seekkuge Prasanna who swung wildly only to connect the ball with his toe end of the bat. The ball went high taken easily by Tendulkar. 9.04 pm 45th Over : OUT!!! F.O.W. 254/9 Farveez Mahroof was scalped by Vinay Kumar as he tried to hit one over mid-on but failed to clear Virat Kohli who took a sharp catch. 8.50 pm 42th Over : OUT!!! F.O.W. 241/8 Upul Tharanga (17) perished as he got an inside edge to the stumps. Pathan picked up his third wicket of the night. With this wicket the fate of this match is probably sealed unless Mahroof produces a stellar innings to turn the match around. Overs (31-40) Sri Lanka 225/7 Run Rate: 5.62, Required Rate: 8.00 8.38 pm 40th Over : Mahroof walked in and clobbered Ashwin for two consecutive boundaries. SL 225/7 8.32 pm 39th Over : OUT!!! Double wicket over F.O.W. 216/6 and F.O.W. 216/7 Vinay Kumar got the wicket of Nuwan Kulasekara and then he scalped Kapugedara for nought courtesy a brilliant catch by Virat Kohli. 8.14 pm 36th Over : OUT!!! F.O.W. 196/4 Vinay Kumar and Ashwin had done the good work by restricting the flow of runs and with the pressure mounting Sangakkara attempted a slog-sweep only to be holed out in the deep by Jadeja. Advantage India. Overs (21-30) Sri Lanka 185/3 Run Rate: 5.78, Required Rate: 6.66 7.46 pm 30th Over : Kumar Sangakkara had started off slowly but held one end tight as Lahiru Thirimanne looked in good touch. 7.27 pm 26th Over : OUT!!! F.O.W.152/3 Ashwin had bowled a teasing line giving no room to work around for Sangakkara and Chandimal and eventually the youngster Dinesh Chandimal (13) fell prey to the offie’s flighted delivery. Overs (11-20) Sri Lanka 125/2 Run Rate: 6.25, Required Rate: 6.00 7.04 pm 19th Over : OUT!!! F.O.W.124/2 A magnificent innings came to a premature end as in a bid to guide a Pathan delivery to third man, Mahela Jayawardene perished after scoring 78. 6.46 pm 14th Over : Two consecutive boundaries of Suresh Raina took Jayawardene to 63 runs in just 45 deliveries. SL 97/1 6.42 pm 13th Over : Mahela Jayawardene reached his fifty in quick time. Overs (1-10) Sri Lanka 65/1 Run Rate: 6.50 Required Rate: 6.00) 6.32 pm 10th Over : Mahela Jayawardene is timing the ball well and along with Sangakkara he could do what Kohli and Gauti did to the Lankans. 6.12 pm 6th Over : After nine dot deliveries Mahela Jayawardene improvised, and even the improvisation was of the highest quality. The ball was drifted down leg, the captain moved to the off-side and bending on one knee scooped the ball over the fine leg boundary for a six. Next ball, he rocked back playing the marginally outside off-stump ball a bit late towards the third man boundary for a four. 6.07 pm 5th Over : OUT!!! F.O.W.31/1 Dilshan (7) got a half tracker from Pathan but managed to hit it straight to Kohli at mid-wicket. Lucky break for India and Irfan Pathan. SL 31/1 5.59 pm 3rd Over : Jayawardene produced the shot of the day so far as he picked an in-swinging delivery from Pathan and hoisted it over the deep mid-wicket boundary for a massive six. 5.53 pm 2nd Over : Tillakaratne Dilshan clobbered a short delivery of Praveen Kumar to the fence and then Jayawardene elegantly cut one past point for the second boundary. 5.48 pm 1st Over : Irfan Pathan started off the proceedings for India and Jayawardene picked up the first boundary flicking one from his pads. Indian Innings The preview of the first match of the Asia cup for India revolved around the all elusive 100th 100 for Sachin Tendulkar. But, in the 6th over when Lakmal sent the Master Blaster packing, the unsung hero and pin-up boy of Indian cricket took centre stage. Southpaw Gautam Gambhir (100 off 118 balls) had accumulated runs in the past year and in the CB series in heap without any fuss. On the other hand, Virat Kohli (108 off 118) played his big knocks when the team needed it the most. With the ‘home advantage’ (read as absolute belter) the Indian outfit where a changed unit. Dhoni chipped in with a 26-ball 46 runs and his trusted ally Suresh Raina racked up 30 off 17 balls. India got a total of 304/3. Last 10 overs produced 95 runs and the last 5 a mammoth 63 runs. For Sri Lanka without Malinga the bowling unit was devoid of their engine and an ever astute Mahela Jayawardene had no one to bank upon. Suranga Lakmal (1/67) though, replacement for Malinga bowled his heart out plucking Sachin Tendulkar and maintained a miserly economy until the death overs where Dhioni and Raina went berserk. Farveez Mahroof was successful in checking the Gauti-Virat charge to some extent during the batting powerplay overs and eventually he got the reward with both their wickets. Overs (41-50) India 304/3 Run Rate: 6.08 5.05 pm 50st Over : With a six of the last ball India reached a total of 304/3 in the allotted 50 overs as Dhoni 46 off 26 and Raina 30 off 17 took full advantage of the platform setup by Gautam Gambhir (100) and Virat Kohli (108). 4.50 pm 48th Over : After the solid platform provided by Gauti and Virat, a bloodbath was on the cards and Dhoni and Raina where the best two players to be in the middle. Dhoni clubbed three consecutive fours of Kulasekara taking the tally of last three overs to 40 runs. 4.27 pm 43rd Over : OUT!!! Double wicket over F.O.W. 224/2 and F.O.W. 226/3 Finally the partnership was broken as Gambhir (100 off 118 balls) hoisted a full length delivery managing to find Upul Tharanga at long-on. Two balls later Virat Kohli (108 off 120 balls) also perished as Farveez Maharoof got his reward in the form of two big wickets. The momentum will surely be halted. 4.20 pm 42nd Over : Centuries for both Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir. Both the Delhi lads notched up their 10th ODI hundred in what was an identical innings from both of them. Overs (31-40) India 209/1 Run Rate: 5.23 4.04 pm 39th Over : Kohli and Gambhir kept on building a mammoth partnership as India reached 200-run mark in under 40 overs. India 201/1 3.42 pm 35th Over : Jayawardene is clearly tied with his lack of blowing options. With 7 batsmen and no Malinga, the captain is rotating his part-timers. It’s Kapugedera into the attack now. Only time will tell when the duo of Gauti and Virat will explode on these part-timers. 3.30 pm 31st Over : Sri Lankan captain persisted with Dilshan as Kohli amped up the tempo. He had hit a powerful cover drive for four off Prasanna the previous over and he reverse paddle sweeped Dilshan for a four in this over. Commentator Rohan Abheysinghe termed the shot as arrogant. India 151/1 Overs (21-30) India 142/1 Run Rate: 4.73 3.24 pm 28th Over : Now the vice-captain reaches his half century, 22nd of his career. 3.20 pm 25rd Over : And with a double the pair raised their 100 run partnership of just 122 balls. Perfect platform for India to thrust from here. What do you reckon India`s score will at the end? India 120/1 3.05 pm 23rd Over : Gambhir nudged one from his pads and brought up India’s 100. Overs (11-20) India 88/1 Run Rate: 4.40 2.56 pm 20th Over : Gambhir racked up another half century in 59 balls. Hope he makes it to three figures this time around. 2.47 pm 17th Over : Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli notched up 50-run partnership. India 71/1 2.41 pm 16th Over : Reprieve for Gambhir (37) as he is dropped by Chandimal at long on. Dinesh Chandimal had problems holding on to high catches down under and the youngster spills one here as well of Seekkuge Prasanna. 2.35 pm 15th Over : Bowling powerplay starts, bet you forgot about that! Maharoof into the attack as Gambhir (36) and Kohli (22) look to build a solid foundation. Meanwhile, do you think Tiwary should have been included in the playing XI? Post your views here. 2.16 pm 11th Over : Dilshan into the attack replacing Kulasekara. Overs (1-10): India 43/1: Run Rate: 4.30 2.14 pm 9th Over : Carrying forward the momentum from the CB series, Gautam Gambhir seemed to have the measure of the Mirpur track as he went about his business with ease scoring at run a ball courtesy three boundaries. India 39/1 1.58 pm 6th Over : OUT!!! F.O.W.19/1 Sachin Tendulkar (6) out to a full toss. Suranga Lakmal had bowled a full toss earlier which Sachin failed to put away and here also Sachin could only manage an uppish drive with no power as Lakmal bowled another full toss. Mahela Jayawerdene at short cover took a good low catch. The milestone remains elusive even after a year and a day. 1.46 pm 3rd Over : First boundary of the day. Sachin Tendulkar after being tested in the first over by Nuwan Kulasekara drove on past the point boundary. He played it a tad late opening the face of the bat: India: 9/0