Virat Kohli guided India to victory
Virat Kohli guided India to victory

Virat Kohli guides India to seven-wicket T20 win over Sri Lanka


Captain Virat Kohli marked his 50th Twenty20 international with a match-winning 82 as India claimed a seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Colombo.

T20 international scores (Colombo)

India won by seven wickets

Sri Lanka: 170-7 (20/20. Munaweera 53, Priyanjan 40*; Chahal 3-43, Yadav 2-20)

India: 174-3 (Kohli 82, Pandey 51*)

Match report

Captain Virat Kohli marked his 50th Twenty20 international with a match-winning 82 as India claimed a seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Colombo.

Kohli's 54-ball knock secured India's triumph, as the tourists chased down their 171 target with four balls to spare.

India ended on 174 for three, with Manish Pandey hitting an unbeaten 51 and KL Rahul scoring 24.

Yuzvendra Chahal claimed three wickets for 43 as India restricted Sri Lanka to 170. Dilshan Munaweera struck 53 and Ashan Priyanjan 40 not out in vain as the hosts finished a wretched run of clashes against India.

The tourists had whitewashed Sri Lanka 3-0 in the Tests and 5-0 in the one-day internationals, and followed all of that up with another dominant display in the one-off T20 clash.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed Upul Tharanga to kick-start India's latest drive for victory, the Sri Lanka opener bowled for just five.

Jasprit Bumrah then clean bowled Niroshan Dickwella for 17 do reinforce India's strong start.

Chahal drew Angelo Mathews into a false shot for a stumping by MS Dhoni on seven, leaving Sri Lanka 62 for three in the sixth over.

Munaweera then set about firing Sri Lanka's innings to something approaching respectability, only to to wind up bowled by Kuldeep Yadav for 53.

Chahal then forced Thisara Perera into playing on for just seven, before he ensnared Dasun Shanaka for a duck.

And when Seekkuge Prasanna holed out to Kohli off Yadav's bowling for 11, Sri Lanka knew they would be in trouble trying to defend their modest total.

The hosts had few answers to Kohli's power and class, with the visiting skipper into the action in the third over.

Rohit Sharma's false shot off Lasith Malinga's bowling saw the opener depart for just nine runs, bringing Kohil to the fore.

The skipper and Lokesh  Rahul turned 22 for one into 42 for two, Rahul departing for 24 from Prasanna's bowling and a fine catch from Shanaka.

Pandey produced a solid innings to dovetail well with Kohli, and the duo carried India to the brink, before the captain was dismissed. Shanaka held another decent catch at midwicket, from Isuru Udana's bowling.

But India still had plenty of time, with Dhoni and Pandey completing another routine victory over the hapless Sri Lankans.

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