Virat Kohli's 13th ODI century and part-timer Manoj Tiwary's four wickets helped India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets to win the fourth one-day international on Tuesday and pocket the five-match series
Kohli, who hit one six and 12 fours, completed his 13th one-day century with an aggressive shot when he pulled fast bowler Lasith Malinga for a boundary. India were under pressure at 109 for four before Kohli and Suresh Raina (58 not out) added 146 runs to steer India home.
Skipper Mahendra Singh was impressed with his deputy’s consistency. “Kohli has improved a lot and once he gets set, he’s someone who doesn’t like to throw away his wicket,” said Dhoni.
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“The part-timers bowled really well and they bowled to their field. We requested Manoj to bowl a lot in the net sessions.”
Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took two wickets and part-time spinner Virender Sehwag one.
“We didn’t bat well and were 30-40 runs short,” said Jayawardene. “To control that line-up you need to pick up wickets and that’s where we lacked in the last few games. Dropping catches doesn’t help,” Jayawardene said.
Kohli in numbers
13
The number of ODI centuries Kohli has under his belt
89
The number of matches Kohli has taken to score 13 ODI tons
183
Kohli’s highest score in ODIs, which he smashed against Pakistan in Asia Cup 2012
250
Kohli’s average while batting second in ODIs
8
The number of centuries he has scored while batting second