Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni led by example as India relied on a clinical all-round display to thrash Sri Lanka by six wickets and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match ODI series in Dambulla on Wednesday.
Chasing 247, major contributions for India came from Gautam Gambhir (62) and Suresh Raina (54) and M.S. Dhoni (61 not out).
The ageing genius Sanath Jayasuriya's 28th ODI century went in vain as the Indians never allowed the islanders to break loose on a slow track. Kumar Sangakkara contributed 44 as Sri Lanka posted 246 for seven wickets in their allotted 50 overs.
With a hip injury keeping Virender Sehwag out of action and Sachin Tendulkar (5) back in the hut in the fourth over, the chase on a sluggish track was far from easy. But with Gambhir and Raina on song, India hardly had a reason to worry.
The left-handed duo went on to stitch together a 113-run stand for the second wicket which laid the perfect foundation for a successful chase, besides offsetting the setback of losing Tendulkar early in the innings.
Kumar Dharmasena made his ODI debut as umpire today. He took his time before approving the vociferous appeal against Sachin Tendulkar in the 4th over of the Indian innings.
Both the teams now move to Colombo for the second match on Saturday. This was India's sixth ODI win in a row, coming after their 5-0 whitewash of England at home.
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