Gautam Gambhir led from the front as India once again asserted their domination in the series by posting 332 in the fourth ODI at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Gautam Gambhir led from the front as India once again asserted their domination in the series by posting 332 in the fourth ODI at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Gambhir scored 150u00a0- his sixth ODI century and highest one-day score.
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Gambhir, along with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, laid a superb foundation early on as India made easy work of the Sri Lankan attack sans Ajantha Mendis. Gambhir carried on after the skipper was out to post his highest ODI score before becoming Muttiah Muralitharan's world-record beating scalp.
Having already won the series, India made a couple of changes to their side. Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan were rested and in their place Rohit Sharma and Irfan Pathan were included in the side. India got off to a flying start once again after electing to bat but stuttered once when Virender Sehwag was caught by Sanath Jayasuriya, going for a flashy drive off Nuwan Kulasekara.
Thereafter, a combination of sloppy fielding and quick running made sure India did not lose track. Dhoni, who promoted himself up the order, was the busier batsman in those opening minutes.
He started off with a four off Farveez Maharoof and then settled for twos and threes. Gambhir stuck to his attacking instincts and gelled with his captain very well. His first boundary came only in the seventh over, but the Delhi opener never looked troubled.
Dhoni, then went into overdrive, hitting Muralitharan out of the park. Both batsmen generally played the off-spinner pretty well. After reaching his fifty with a six, Dhoni carried on his inimitable style.
He was severe on the slower bowlers and even carted the pacers around the park. But trying to push the scoring rate even higher, Dhoni fell on 94. Along with Gambhir, the skipper had added 188 runs for the second wicket.
Yuvraj Singh (5) fell soon after and Yusuf Pathan was bowled first ball. But Gambhir carried on and became even more aggressive after that. Suresh Raina (49)u00a0helped him by rotating the strike well and eventually Gambhir reached his ton and the middle-order batsman hit some meaty blows at the death.
His luck carried him there though, some streaky shots landed short while others landed in between fielders. After reaching 150, Gambhir's luck ran out as he edged Muralitharan to 'keeper Kumar Sangakkara. That gave the legendary off-spinner his 503rd ODI wicket and he beat Wasim Akram's long-standing world record.
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