Kohli, Raina steer India to a six-wicket win against Sri Lanka, Kohli hits his 13th ODI hundred

Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina showed why they are regarded so as they helped their team register a comprehensive six-wicket win in the fourth ODI and hand Sri Lanka one of their rare series defeat at home, says a report in The Times Of India.

“Kohli and Raina set the Premadasa stadium alight with their superlative strokeplay under lights to post a series clinching 146-run partnership, rendering the last game in Pallekele academic. Kohli, who hammered his second century of the series, is fast emerging as the top ODI batsman in the world today. Ace finisher Raina is not far behind, getting his third half-century of the series,” says the report, adding that the two had come together at a stage when the match could have gone either way but the way the two took control of the situation, injury-depleted Sri Lankans did not stand a chance.

The performance of the two overshadowed the heroics of part-time bowler Manoj Tiwary who, with his four-wicket haul, had helped India restrict the home team to 251 for eight which the visitors overhauled with eight overs to spare.

A report in The Indian Express says that Kohli played a role vastly beyond his years; that of anchoring the Indian chase. “He was the chief architect (or bulldozer, whichever way one looks at it) of the toppling of the biggish target — something his ton helped achieve for the seventh time in his unbelievably brilliant and short career,” write Indian Express, adding that  Kohli has become something Indian cricket had almost never had before — that of being a dependable master of chases.

“With him around, a man who scored his 13th ODI century in just his 86th inning in the format, no target ever looks too daunting. Not even when India are three down for 60, like they were against the Sri Lankans at the R Premadasa Stadium on Thursday. At such a point, Kohli, like so many times in the past, put his head down and calmly steered the team towards safety. For support, he had Suresh Raina (who will largely go unnoticed for his unbeaten 58 in the shadow of a great knock) and together they knitted a 146-run stand for the fifth wicket. But over all, it was a Kohli show. He once again proved that flamboyance means little compared to substance, and that converting a start into a fine innings remains his main priority in the game,” says the report.

Meanwhile according to a report in Hindustan Times, India on Tuesday notched up their 400th one-day international victory when they thrashed Sri Lanka by six wickets in the fourth ODI of the five-match series at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Riding on a fluent century by Virat Kohli 128 - his 13th hundred in 89 ODIs - and a career-best bowling figures of four for 61 by Manoj Tiwary, India beat Sri Lanka with 46 balls to spare and took an unassailable 3-1 lead in Colombo.