Dambulla: Skipper MS Dhoni (61) and Rohit Sharma (25) guided India to a comfortable six-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the first One-Day International at Dambulla.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (61) slammed his 26th ODI fifty and with some ferocious hitting sent an ominous warning to the host team. The Indian chase was studded with fifties from Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni respectively. Rohit Sharma justified his selection with a patient 25-run innings with some excellent running between the wickets alongwith Dhoni.

Thilan Thushara provided the first breakthrough for Sri Lanka during the chase, removing Sachin Tendulkar with the score on 13. Farveez Maharoof claimed Yuvraj Singh (23) in the 38th over during the first One-dayer against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Yuvraj handed Muralitharan a comfortable catch in the long on.

Quite an efficient win by the Indians. Since this is a bilateral series there was no need to worry about net run rate so the Indians could afford to take their time. Never at any stage were there any signs of panic and Dhoni deserves credit for nudging the singles. Gambhir and Raina were positive at the top, Yuvraj didn't get bogged down by the spinners and importantly, India took advantage of the fact that the opposition attack enough.

Earlier, Mahendra Singh Dhoni won an important toss and invited Sri Lanka to bat first.

India's Yusuf Pathan cashed in on a huge mix-up by the Lankan openers and ran out opener Tillakaratne Dilshan (0). Lanka lost the first wicket in the third bowl of the first over without a score on the board.

A masterly ton from Jayasuriya and his vital partnership with Sangakkara put SL back on track after they lost the early wicket of Dilshan. Earlier, Ojha removed the dangerous Sangakkara for 44. Jayasuriya also became the oldest cricket to score a One-day hundred.

Highlights of the match

• Jayasuriya became the oldest man to score an ODI century.
• When he brought up his 37th run, he also became the second man to reach the 13,000-mark in his career.
• He also crossed 50 for the 95th time to go one clear of Sourav Ganguly, and in second place behind Sachin Tendulkar who has 132.
• His knock was the second ODI century in Dambulla, and the highest individual score as well.

Brief Score: India 247 for 4 (Gambhir 62, Raina 54, Dhoni 61*) beat Sri Lanka 246 for 6 (Jayasuriya 107, Ishant 3-51) by six wickets
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