London, June 8 (Cricketnmore) Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan's 125 powered defending champions India to 321\/6 in 50 overs against Sri Lanka in a Group B clash of the ICC Champions Trophy at The Oval here on Thursday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Dhawan, who registered his 10th century in One-Day International (ODI) cricket, shared a partnership of 138 with fellow opener Rohit Sharma (78; 79b; 4x6, 6x3).<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Dhawan also shared an 82-run stand with Mahendra Singh Dhoni (63; 52b; 7x4, 6x2)) for the fourth wicket as India posted a highly-challenging total.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Asked to bat, the Indian right-left combination of Rohit Sharma and Dhawan laid a solid foundation as they made the most of the shorter length maintained by the Sri Lankan pacers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Dhawan and Rohit initially ensured that they get through the early overs without any damage and then paced their innings nicely once they got settled.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Both the batsmen showed good cutting, pulling and hooking strore-making techniques as they milked runs mostly through the square of the wicket.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Rohit, having completed his 31st fifty, was cruising until being caught by Thisara Perera off pacer Lasith Malinga. That put India at 138\/1 in 24.5 overs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Then, India lost Virat Kohli (0) and Yuvraj Singh (7) cheaply within the next few overs but Dhawan kept finding fours to keep Sri Lanka at bay.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Captain Kohli disappointed the crowd when he edged behind a delivery from paceman Nuwan Pradeep in the fifth ball of the 16th over.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Yuvraj dragged a ball from Asela Gunaratne on to his stumps, and India score read 179\/3 in 33.3 overs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Even if they were at a spot of bother, Dhawan and new batsman Dhoni showed a lot of positivity, not staying away from punishing poor deliveries.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Dhoni made his intention clear as he opened his account with a six over point off pacer Suranga Lakmal.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
His approach helped Dhawan and the latter completed his century in 112 deliveries. A cut towards point off Pradeep brought up his three-figure mark.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Dhawan stepped up after completing his century but his innings was halted at 125, when he couldn't clear Kusal Mendis at long-on off a delivery from Malinga. The Delhi batsman's knock featured 15 fours and a six from the 128 deliveries he faced.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Dhoni, however, continued to flay the Sri Lankan bowlers who erred in line and length, making it easy for him to showcase his brute power.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Later, Kedar Jadhav scored a quickfire 25 not out from 13 deliveries to take India past 320.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Brief scores: India: 321\/6 in 50 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 125, Rohit Sharma 78, Mahendra Singh Dhoni 63; Lasith Malinga 2\/70, Asela Gunaratne 1\/7) vs Sri Lanka.<\/p>\r\n", "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2017\/06\/shikhar-dhawan-11.jpg", "alt_img": "Image for CT 2017: Dhawan's 125 takes India to 321\/6 against Sri Lanka", "alt_title": "CT 2017: Dhawan's 125 takes India to 321\/6 against Sri Lanka", "image1": "", "video": "", "seo_title": "CT 2017: Dhawan's 125 takes India to 321\/6 against Sri Lanka", "seo_desc": "London, June 8 (Cricketnmore) Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan's 125 powered defending champions India to 321\/6 in 50 overs against Sri Lanka in a Group B clash ", "seo_keywords": " Shikhar Dhawan, India vs Sri Lanka", "tag": "", "tagging": "", "status": "1", "img_rpt": "0", "google": "0", "standout": "0", "edapps": "0", "pulse": "0", "no_index": "0", "feed": "0", "fixture": "0", "slug": "ct-2017-dhawans-125-takes-india-to-3216-against-sri-lanka", "user_id": "0", "read_count": "0", "ians_date": "0000-00-00", "ians_time": "00:00:00", "server_time": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "trash": "0", "view_count": "2147", "page_break": "0", "instant_articles": "0", "auto_link": "0", "created": "2017-06-08 19:48:00", "updated": "2017-06-08 19:48:00", "img_from": "", "img_source": "", "schedule_publish": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "news_keywords": null, "livescore_text": null, "livescore_link": null, "btn_text": null, "resend_feed": "0", "google_feed": "0", "read_more": "0", "posted_by": "1", "jio_date": "2017-06-08 19:48:00", "scheduled": "0", "news_now": "1", "breaking_news": "0", "google_date": "2017-06-08 19:48:00", "featured": "0", "pred_match_id": null, "article_content_type": null, "link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/cricket-news\/ct-2017-dhawans-125-takes-india-to-3216-against-sri-lanka-27802" }