Kohli hits 68, Dinda takes 4

Pallekele, Aug 7: After a thumping 4-1 win in the ODI series, India continued their dominance over Sri Lanka as they thrashed the hosts by 39 runs in the one-off T20 match at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

Chasing a modest 156, Sri Lanka were bundled out for just 116 conceding an easy victory to the visitors.

After blazing knock by in-form Virat Kohli guided India to 155/3, left arm pacer Irfan Pathan tore apart Sri Lankan top order while Ashok Dinda got rid of the tailenders to secure win for their team.

Pathan dismissed Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga and Mahela Jayawardene in quick succession to reduce 35/3 in five overs.

Pathan bowled out Dilshan (0) in the first over and then sent back Tharanga (5) in the third to reduce Sri Lanka to 18/2.

Jayawardene tried to rescue his side with some fiery strokes but Pathan struck again in the fifth over to end his challenge.

R Ashwin gave Sri Lanka fourth blow at the score of 68. On the second delivery of the 10th over, Ashwin bowled out Lahiru Thirimanne.

Angelo Mathews tried to rescue his side from the collapse but Ashok Dinda didn’t let him do that. Dinda then wrapped up Sri Lanka tail and finished with a figure of 4/19.

Earlier, Virat Kohli scored 68 off 48 balls with the help of 11 boundaries and a six to guide India to a decent total.

The batsman, who is in best of his form, came to bat after early dismissal of opener Gautam Gambhir in the second over.

Shaminda Eranga bowled out opener Gautam Gambhir to give India the first blow after visitors were invited to bat.

Gambhir (6) was bowled out by Eranga on the fifth deliver of the second over with scorecard reading just 7.

Kohli then rescued the side from the early blow and shared 74-run stand for the second wicket with Ajinkya Rahane who made 21.

Rahane was the second Indian batsman to fall. He was dismissed by Jeevan Mendis.

Kohli’s dismissal came in the 17 th over. Eranga struck again to get rid of Kohli after his fine show. Raina remained unbeaten on 34 off 25 balls. Agencies