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PHOTOS: Kohli dazzles as India race past SL
Virat Kohli hammered an unbeaten 133 as India pulled off a stunning victory over Sri Lanka in Hobart on Tuesday.
Needing to win the crucial game in 40 overs in order to get a bonus point and stay afloat in the tri-series, the beleaguered Indians pulled off a sensational victory.
Riding on Kohli's breathtaking assault and useful contributions from all the other top-order batsmen, they chased down Sri Lanka's mammoth 321 in only 36.4 overs.
Earlier, centuries from Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara powered Sri Lanka to a mammoth 320-4.
Dilshan (160 not out) equalled his highest score in one-day internationals and added 200 for the second wicket with Sangakkara (105) after India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni opted to field on winning the toss.
Sangakkara solid and sure
Sangakkara went on an all-out attack and posted his 13th One-day hundred.
His 105 runs, off just 87 balls, included eight boundaries and two huge hits over the fence.
Dilshan smashes 11th hundred
Dilshan was watchful at the start but opened up after completing his 11th hundred. He hit 11 boundaries and three sixes during his 165-ball stay at the wicket.
Dilshan and Sangakkara got together after the 12th over and maneuvered the score till the 44th over, putting together exactly 200 runs for the second wicket, the biggest stand of the series so far.Jaywardene caught off Jadeja
The Lankans got off to a decent start, with captain Mahela Jayawardene and Dilshan putting together 49 runs for the first wicket before the former was caught by Virender Sehwag at slips off Ravindra Jadeja.
The dismissal forced Dilshan and new-man Sangakkara to slow down as they raised their scores mostly in ones and twos, with occasional hits in between to raise the team's 100 in the 22nd over.Batting Powerplay yielded 41 runs
Dilshan was the first to get to fifty, hitting five fours off 68 balls.
Sangakkara followed soon, attaining the landmark in 55 balls.
The duo then stepped up the tempo and claimed the batting Powerplay after 32 overs, with Sri Lanka's score reading 150 for two. It yielded 41 runs for the islanders.
Sachin, Sehwag get off to great start
Chasing 321 to win, Indian openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag came out all guns blazing. Both looked in fine knick and creamed the Lankan bowlers. They were severe on Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara, treating them with disdain.
The run rate was so healthy that India's 50 came in just five overs.
Malinga gets his revenge
However, captain Jayawardene made a crucial bowling change that gave the Lankans the breakthrough.
Having mistimed his shot, Sehwag was caught by the Dilshan at shot mid-on off the bowling of Farveez Maharoof.
The dismissal did not deter Tendulkar, who continued in the same vein. He continued to dominate the Lankan bowlers in the company of Gautam Gambhir.
However, his downfall came in the 10th over when he was undone by a Malinga yorker and dismissed leg before.Gambhir combines well with Kohli
Gautam Gambhir, who came in at the fall of Sehwag's wicket, grew in aggression once Tendulkar was dismissed and consolidated with Virat Kohli.
He completed his half-century off 47 balls, while Kohli too brought up his fifty in the next over.
The duo put on a century stand before Gambhir was run-out for 63.
Kohli slams ninth ODI ton
Kohli, who was struggling to time the ball in the initial part of his innings, took single before he got his eye in then tore into the Sri Lankan bowlers in the second half of the innings.
He soon reached his century with a couple off Malinga, as India still needed more than six-runs-per-over to make it.
The 30th over, bowled by Lasith Malinga -- who was the most expensive bowler in the end-- produced 15 runs. Then the Nuwan Kulasekara over produced 18 runs, which ended the contest.