Virat Kohli did not seem under pressure until he neared his century at Wankhede Stadium against Sri Lanka. Kohli was in a playful mood throughout his inning. After getting outsmarted by Angelo Mathews, he hit the all-rounder with the bat gently while running towards the non-striker’s end. Struggling in Mumbai weather, Kohli was on his knees talking with Shubman Gill. He decided to poke fun by hitting Gill in the box with his bat handle.
Kohli is usually seen teasing Gill on and off the field. The two batters helped India recover from the early wicket of captain Rohit Sharma. They shared an 189-run partnership for the second wicket, the joint second-highest for India against Sri Lanka in World Cups.
Gill missed scoring his sixth ODI century in 2023. The opener contributed with a run-a-ball 92 laced with 11 fours and two sixes. He lost his wicket to left-arm pacer Dilshan Madushanka in the 30th over of the innings.
This was Gill’s second half-century of the tournament. He scored 53 runs against Bangladesh in the run chase at MCA Stadium, Pune.
Gill also extended his lead over other batters in the list of most ODI runs in 2023. He has scored 1,426 runs from 25 innings at an average of 65.81 including five centuries and seven half-centuries.
Gill's 92 and Kohli's 88-run knock set a platform for the middle-order batters to take on Sri Lankan bowlers in the middle overs. Iyer capitalised and smashed six sixes, three fours in his explosive 56-ball 82. Later, Ravindra Jadeja contributed with a 24-ball 35 cameo to help India post 357/8 on the board.
Madushanka was the only positive for Sri Lanka as he picked up a fifer despite conceding 80 runs from his quota of 10 overs.
“I think it was a pretty good wicket to bat, the ball was coming on and there was some nice bounce. I could settle for a while and then play my shots. It was magnificent to watch (on the partnership between Gill and Kohli), the way they took the singles, twos and the boundaries, they laid the platform for us. We were told that the odd ball was stopping and holding a bit, so it was a good partnership that they had and it helped us later on,” Iyer told the broadcasters during the innings break.
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