Another rambunctious innings from Tillakaratne Dilshan carried Sri Lanka's chances of leveling the series, even if the period after the century opening stand was snapped raised India's spirits somewhat. Dilshan contributed 63 to that 102-run start, playing with the freedom and control fans have come to grow accustomed, and had Sri Lanka well above the asking rate after 75 overs of cricket in front of a healthy Nagpur turnout.
Needing to score at over a run a ball, Dilshan got the chase off to a brisk start, driving, cutting or just plain thumping. And as often happens, India failed to apply pressure from both ends. If Zaheer Khan allowed just a run off his second over, Praveen Kumar leaked three consecutive fours in his, veering between too wide and too full. Ashish Nehra wasn't allowed to settle, with both openers punching aerial down the ground, and Zaheer's length was offset by a manipulative Dilshan. Sri Lanka's fifty came up in 6.3 overs, most of the runs coming down the ground.
It was enthralling batting from Dilshan. Zaheer and Nehra tried to push him back but he rode the bounce, and at times luck - such as when he danced out to Nehra and edged for four. Whenever the ball was pitched up, Dilshan, at times batting out of his crease, plonked his front foot further forward and clunked powerful drives over mid-off and mid-on.
After Virender Sehwag - in today's game - Dilshan comes closest to being able to make the bowler bowl where he wants them to. MS Dhoni turned to Harbhajan Singh for the eighth over, slip and leg gully in place. Having come out and gone back to pick the gaps in Harbhajan's first over, Dilshan had the bowler in two minds. At one point, he twice hurried out to thump the ball down the ground, as he'd spotted the extra flight. Then Harbhajan bowled it quicker and wider, hoping Dilshan would come out to that one as well. Instead Dilshan read it perfectly, stayed in position, and cut it past point for four. The batsman had set the bowler up.
When Harbhajan purchased some turn, Dilshan used his crease to get over the ball, most likely to nudge it off his pads. A streaky but deliberate edge off Harbhajan for four raised a 31-ball fifty. Harbhajan had some success against Upul Tharanga, who was lured out and then edged a breaking ball to slip where Sehwag snapped a good catch to his left (102 for 1). Enter Kumar Sangakkara, and two early boundaries, timed with the confidence of a man in form, suggested plenty. But a moment of hesitation from Dilshan saw Sangakkara run out for 21, giving India a moment to regroup and figure out how to stop Dilshan.
50 overs India 301 for 7 (Dhoni 107, Raina 68, Kohli 54) v Sri Lanka
As India's wicketkeeper and captain, MS Dhoni has a wide range of accomplishments during his tenure and today he served up another example of the confidence and luck with which he has forged his reputation: his decision to send Virat Kohli up the order and hold back Suresh Raina both paid off and sandwiched between the pair was his sixth ODI ton, studded with let-offs and an array of trademark powerful shots.
Sri Lanka's day began well after Dhoni opted to bat on a track that looked full of runs. India's top order failed to cash in but the second half of the innings stung the visitors: India made 125 for the loss of three wickets in the first 25 and 176 in the last 25. With Dhoni ensuring Sri Lanka paid for those chances and Raina delivering a blistering innings during the batting Powerplay, India ended with a flourish.
At the halfway mark, Kohli was coasting along. He reached his half-century off 57 balls (his first at home and third overall), marked his guard once more, and set his stalls out for a long innings. But it wasn't to be. Walking across his stumps to the debutant, offspinner Suraj Randiv, Kohli was struck in line. Cue the most productive period for India, and potentially the decisive.
Dhoni ensured that the momentum didn't fall away, working the ball around superbly from the outset, and immediately showing the rich vein of form he is in this year. It wasn't a pure innings though. Dhoni had edged his first ball for four, was nearly taken at third man when on 11, edged wide of Kumar Sangakkara on 24, and got two more lives in three balls from his counterpart off Ajantha Mendis. Dhoni raised his half-century off 70 balls and thumped a six to celebrate.
While Randiv tossed the ball up on a teasing length and rarely dropped short, Suranga Lakmal was called back to bowl the 30th over and continued his trend of giving a four almost every over. Dhoni rode back and uppercut in style, Raina similarly went back and bisected point and gully and India's run rate hovered around five an over. Those two shots were crucial, for they gave Raina momentum and Dhoni a much-needed boundary.
Dhoni ran and judged doubles excellently and upped the tempo once he passed fifty, quickly causing Sri Lankan shoulders to droop. The whips, the sweeps, the cuts - all were played in abundance. Dhoni picked the batting Powerplay after 40 overs, just after Raina dumped Chanaka Welegedara for six over long-on. Two more sixes, again hit down the ground with power, pushed Sri Lanka onto the back foot as the pair took on Mendis and Randiv on in a three-over burst that bled 35 runs. Raina's fifty came up off 44 balls and that five-over block yielded 50. Looking for his fourth six, Raina picked out deep midwicket, and soon after, Mendis dropped a clanger at cover when Dhoni was on 94. In the same over, Dhoni raised his century, his second in consecutive innings in Nagpur, to a rousing reception.
Sri Lanka had themselves to blame for India's final score, because their day had started well. In the initial stages the ball did a bit, but nowhere near enough to cause concern, and India's first three wickets owed to lapses in concentration. Angelo Mathews took the new ball with Welegedara and bowled the first maiden of the limited-overs leg of the tour, and 11 dot balls in a row left viewers scratching their eyeballs. Virender Sehwag tried to cut too close to the body, Gautam Gambhir called for a chancy run and collided with the bowler before mid-on took out the stumps, and Sachin Tendulkar - having countered a good opening spell from Welegedara - danced out and missed the ball.
In came Kohli, who got on top of the bowlers and carried the innings with his fifty. He played with a calmness he has often struggled to find in his fledgling one-day career. He started the day with an immaculate flick off the pads for four, and it was evident that he was in the mood for a long stay. He opened up with some pretty strokes, the best of which was a wristy straight drive off debutant Lakmal. Kohli was especially good against Lakmal, driving down the ground and pulling whenever he erred in length. At least one boundary came in each of Lakmal's first five overs, and he ended up with none for 57 from eight. Dhoni fed off Kohli's solidity when new to the crease and went one better.
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