Dambulla, Ind vs SL: India win by 9 wickets in ODI series opener match

Driving on Shikhar Dhawan's marvelous batting performace, team India registered a comfortable 9 wickets win in the opening ODI of the five-match series at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium here on 20 August.

After losing Rohit Sharma early, the unbeaten partnership between opener Shikhar Dhawan and skipper Virat Kohli set up a nine-wicket victory for the Men in Blue over the Sri Lankan side.

Shikhar Dhawan hit his 11th ODI hundred for which he was awarded with the 'Man of the Match' title. Kohli crossed fifty for 44th time in the format.

Having been put in to bat first, Sri Lanka got off to strong start, but after losing Niroshan Dickwella in the 25th over, wickets started to tumble for the hosts.

Lanka's last nine wickets fell down in the span of just 77 runs and the side was bundled out for mere 216 runs in just 43.2 overs.

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel was the pick of the Indian bowlers as he scalped three wickets, giving away just 34 runs in his quota of 10 overs.

He was ably supported by Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kedar Jadhav as they all chipped in with two-two wickets each.

For the hosts, wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella was the star performer with the bat as he played a prolific knock of 64 runs, which included eight boundaries. The other notable contributions came from Danushka Gunathilaka (35), Kusal Mendis (36) and Angelo Mathews (36).

-With ANI inputs.