Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma looked in amazing touch with the bat in the fourth ODI against Sri Lanka, scoring wonderful tons to help India score an impressive 375 runs in the first innings. India bowlers rounded the day with a fine performance, dismissing Sri Lanka for 207 runs to emerge victorious by 168 runs on Thursday.
With this win, India have managed to take 4-0 lead in the best-of-five series as well. This victory proved to be a perfect gift for MS Dhoni, who was playing his 300th ODI match for the Men in Blue.
Kohli had missed out on the last two ODIs against Sri Lanka, scoring four and three runs respectively, but the India captain was at his menacing best in the fourth ODI in Colombo. The right-hander scored a wonderful ton from 76 balls. His 96-ball 131 comprised of 17 fours and two sixes.
Besides Kohli, Rohit also scored back-to-back tons as the opener in his classy and elegant style, timing the ball to perfection completed yet another ODI ton. The Mumbai batsman did not look in much trouble as Rohit completed his 100 in 85 balls, which included 10 fours and three sixes.
However, it was Kohli's 29th ODI ton, which caught everyone's eye. Kohli seems to enjoy batting against Sri Lanka, as it was his seventh hundred against the island nation.
The Delhi man, who during the toss said the track looks brilliant for batting, got a chance to make use of the pitch early on as India decided to bat first. Unfortunately, India got off to a poor start with Shikhar Dhawan getting out for just four runs in the second over of the match.
Kohli strode onto the wicket with a sense of purpose. The India captain meant business from the word go and got going from the fourth over of the match, where Kohli hit Vishwa Fernando for three boundaries on a trot.
The boundaries were oozing confidence and since then there was no stopping the man. Kohli played all the shots in the book, including his trademark flicks, straight drives and the elegant cover drives.
Sri Lanka looked helpless at the face of Kohli onslaught. He troubled the spinners and pacers with ease.
Rohit Sharma, who was at the other end, got the best view from the opposite end as the opener and Kohli formed a solid partnership to put India in commanding position. Kohli eventually lost his wicket for 131 runs, with Malinga sending him back to the pavilion in the 30th over.
After Kohli got out, it was Rohit, who took over from the captain and completed a wonderful ton. It was an innings, where he did not take many risks, but still managed to score at a strikerate above 120. Angelo Mathews claimed Rohit's wicket at 104. WIth both the set batsmen gone and India in good position, Manish Pandey and Dhoni contributed with scores of 50 and 49 runs to post a mammoth total of 375 runs.
With such a target for Sri Lanka, it was always going to be daunting for the home side, who had not even scored 250 runs in any of the last three ODIs.
Sri Lanka never got going and lost wickets at regular intervals, which put them in the backfoot. Despite some resistance showed by former Sri Lanka captain, Angelo Mathews, who top-scored with 70 runs, Sri Lanka could not even challenge India as they were all out for 207 runs, losing the match, yet again.
India will look to continue their dominance over Sri Lanka in the fifth and final ODI, which is scheduled for Sunday.
