At midway stage of the game many of the Indian fans must have thought that India will win the Rajkot ODI quite comfortably and lead the series 1-0 after India posted their highest ODI total of 414/7 on the board. However it was Sri Lanka who nearly pulled off a sensational victory before losing their way in the fag end to give the Indians a narrow three-run victory in a high-scoring thriller in first One day intenrational.
Chasing the target of 415 runs for victory, Sri Lanka replied brilliantly with the help of blistering century from Tilakratne Dilshan (160 runs of 124 balls), Kumar Sangakara (90 runs of 43 balls) and Upul Tharanga (67 runs of 60 balls) and with the help of poor catching by the Indians.
They manage to reach as close to the target than many have thought so, but it was the last over of Sri Lankan innings which decided the game. Needing 15 runs in last two overs with T.Kandamby (24 runs of 25 balls) and A.Mathews (38 runs of 33 balls) at the crease it was only Sri Lanka who were the favorites at that stage of the game. But two runs outs in the 49th over bowled by Zaheer Khan gave Indians a chance to wrap up the game.
Wickets of Angelo Mathews in the last over of the game confirmed that it was only India who will be the winner of this game.
Earlier after put into bat Indian deadly openers Virendra Sehwag (146 runs of 102 balls) and Sachin Tendulkar (69 runs of 63 balls) gave India a perfect launching pad for the Indian batsman to follow. Both openers put on 153 runs for the first wicket. M.S.Dhoni who promoted himself at No. 3 played according to his nature and smashed a quick fire 72 runs of just 52 balls to get Indian score pass 300 runs in just 35th over.
Sri Lanka bounce back well in the game by picking up five quick wickets in the last five to six overs but it was Virat Kohli (27 runs of 19 balls) and Ravinder Jadeja (30* runs of 17 balls) who make sure that India get pass 400 runs mark at the end of 50 overs.
Here are few stats and records which were achieved during first ODI at Rajkot
It was only the second time that more than 800 runs were scored in a one-day match. The match between Australia and South Africa in Johannesburg in 2006 had produced 872 runs which is the highest so far.
Sachin Tendulkar became the first player to make part in 600 international games (437 ODIs, 162 Tests, one T20I). Sanath Jayasurya is behind him with 575 international games under his belt.
MS Dhoni completed his 5,000 runs in ODIs when his score reached 46. Dhoni became the eighth Indian and 55th batsman in ODIs to reach this landmark. Dhoni became the second fastest among Indians after Sourav Ganguly to reach this landmark.
For the first time in one day international history, both side had 150+ runs opening partnership in the same match.
As many as 104 boundaries were hit in the match - 55 by India (43 fours and 12 sixes) and 49 by Sri Lanka (37 fours and 12 sixes). This is only the second such instances in ODI cricket. Last time it was happended in the game against South Africa and Australia in 2006.
Virendra Sehwag was declared Player of the Match for his quick fire 146 runs of 102 balls.
