India were on a roll in the 4th ODI against Sri Lanka in Colombo as they scripted yet another one-sided victory on the tour. The hosts were no match for the might of the visitors and succumbed once again. A crushing defeat by 168 runs meant that India go 4-0 up with a game to be played on Sunday.
Virat Kohli won the toss and for the first time in the series, the Indian team batted first. Shikhar Dhawan fell early but the centurion from the last game Rohit Sharma combined with the skipper to make a mockery of the Sri Lankan bowlers. The duo went after the opponents and literally delivered the knockout punch well inside the 20th over.
Kohli scored 131 runs off 96 balls where Rohit scored another hundred to end with the score of 104. The pair added 219 runs for the 2nd wicket and simply ran away with the game. There was a slight mishap as India lost 4 quick wickets and were reduced to 274/5 in the 38th over.
Manish Pandey, playing his first ODI of the series, joined hands with MS Dhoni who was playing his 300th ODI. The duo brought caution to the winds and constructed a steady partnership. Where it started with discretion, ended with an explosion. A stand of 101 runs boosted the score to a massive 375/5 at the end of 50 overs.
Sri Lanka were rocked back early as they lost 3 wickets inside 10 overs. Angelo Mathews played the lone hand of 70 runs but there was no intention to chase down the total. One by one, every batsman departed cheaply and the side bundled out for 207 in 42.4 overs. Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav bagged 2 wickets apiece where Shardul Thakur and Axar Patel ended with one each.
Twitter was quick to react as the Indian side was hailed and Sri Lanka received a hammering there too.
Let’s take a look at some of the best tweets
Afraid Sri Lanka were never in this game. Wonder if they lost it before the game started
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 31, 2017
Most runs vs SL in ODIs
3113 S Tendulkar
2265 Inzamam
2261 MS Dhoni
2197 Saeed Anwar
2002* Kohli#SLvIND— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) August 31, 2017
https://twitter.com/manthenalalu/status/903304031962988545
Must say, Both @imVkohli and @ImRo45 looked like scoring a double hundred today, what a partnership that was #INDvSL #SLvIND
— Shubham Khare (@shubhamkhare71) August 31, 2017
https://twitter.com/Aditya_k168/status/903303763200315393
Most not outs in ODIs
73 MS Dhoni
72 Shaun Pollock/Chaminda Vaas#SLvInd— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) August 31, 2017
DRS should be renamed to Dhoni Review System, does he ever get them wrong? #DRS #MSDhoni #SLvIND #INDvSL
— Shubham Khare (@shubhamkhare71) August 31, 2017
https://twitter.com/ViratCricbuzz/status/903305831621554177
Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya congratulate Lasith Maling for the 300 ODI wickets. @mipaltan #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/4dGPD1i25S
— using namespace std; (@Ur90skid) August 31, 2017
#Dhoni300 was special
1). 3 catches
2). 1 successful DRS Review
3). 49*Runs
4). Most #NotOut in #ODI #SLvIND #IndvsSL #INDvSL #ViratKohli— Abhinav Mahto (@united_abhi) August 31, 2017
Conceding 80+ runs in an ODI most times:
8 MALINGA
4 Wahab
3 Anderson, Ball, Lee, Ntini, K O'Brien#SLvIND— Cricket Coverage (@CricCoverage) August 31, 2017
https://twitter.com/SirJadeja/status/903302548018343939
Really enjoyed the reaction from Rohit Sharma to Malinga's 300. Don't always see a hug from a rival. IPL effect! @mipaltan
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 31, 2017
