UPUL Tharanga carved a career best 174 not out and Mahela Jayawardene caressed a delightful 107 to lead Sri Lanka to a 161-run trouncing of India in the Celkon Mobile One-Day International (ODI) cricket match at Sabina Park yesterday.

The pair added 213 runs for the first wicket to lay the platform for Sri Lanka’s massive 348-1, and their bowlers took wickets regularly to dismiss the 50-overs world champions for 187. During the post-match interviews, India’s Virat Kohli, who stood in as captain for the injured Mahendra Singh Dhoni, lamented his team’s failure to get the “good start” needed to effectively chase such a total.

His opposite number, Angelo Mathews, said Tharanga and Jayawardene “batted brilliantly” to put Sri Lanka in a virtually impregnable position.

Scores: India 348-1 (50 overs); Sri Lanka 187 (44.5 overs).

India’s openers Rohit Sharma (five) and the left-handed Shikhar Dhawan (24) showed little of the form that helped India win the recent ICC Champions Trophy in England as both were dismissed cheaply.

They were followed to the pavilion by Kohli (two) and Murali Vijay (30) as India slumped to 65-4 in the 19th over.

Despite a 53-run resistance for the fifth wicket between Dinesh Karthik (22) and left-hander Suresh Raina (33), the uninspired-looking India team found chasing 349 too steep of a mountain against accurate bowling from the Sri Lankan spinners and seamers.

The 24-year-old left-handed batsman Ravindra Jadeja, who featured at number seven, top scored with an unbeaten 49.

Left-arm orthodox slow bowler Rangana Herath led the way with 3-37, while pacer Lasith Malinga and rookie spinner Sachithra Senanayake chimed in with two wickets each.

Earlier, Tharanga made the most of India’s below-par bowling and fielding effort to record his highest ODI score and his 13th century overall.

The 28-year-old, who hit 19 fours and three sixes off 159 deliveries, stepped on the accelerator after reaching triple figures and added 135 runs in 68 balls with the hard-hitting Mathews in a blistering secondwicket partnership.

Mathews’ contribution to the late onslaught was a 29-ball 44 not out.

The left-handed Tharanga, who generally clipped and sliced the bowlers into the gaps with great craft, did benefit from some luck, evidenced by him being dropped on 91.

Jayawardene, 36, a regular in the middle-order, played several typically exquisite shots both sides of the wicket in his nine boundaries and two sixes off 112 balls. Before reaching his 16th ODI ton, the veteran batsman also survived a dropped chance when he was on 25.

India’s off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (1-67) eventually got the lone wicket to fall when Jayawardene attempted a reverse sweep and was caught by Umesh Yadav.

Sri Lanka have five points — including a bonus for the margin of victory — to leave the winless Indian team trailing in last place in the Tri-Nation series. West Indies, who also got a bonus point during their win over Sri Lanka last week, lead with nine points.

The series now moves to Trinidad & Tobago for the second leg of preliminary matches which starts on Friday with West Indies hosting India at the Queen’s Park Oval.

Scoreboard

Sri Lanka Innings

U Tharanga not out174

M Jayawardene c Yadav b Ashwin 107

A Mathews 44

Extras (1b, 6lb, 16w) 23

Total (1 wicket, 50 overs) 348

Fall of wickets: 1-213 (Jayawardene),

Did not bat: K Perera, K Sangakkara, D Chandimal, L Thirimanne, N Kulasekara, S Senanayake, R Herath, L Malinga.

Bowling: Ahmed 10-0-68-0 (3w), Yadav 8-0-65-0 (3w), I Sharma 9-0-68-0 (1w), Jadeja 9-0-55-0, Ashwin 10-0-66-1 (4w), Kohli 2-0-9-0, Raina 2-0-10-0 (1w)

India Innings

R Sharma c Mathews b Kulasekara 5

S Dhawan c Tharanga b Herath 24

M Vijay b Malinga 30

V Kohli c Malinga b Mathews 2

D Karthik stpd Sangakkara b Herath 22

S Raina run out 33

R Jadeja not out 49

R Ashwin c Malinga b Senanayake 4

S Ahmed b Senanayake 0

I Sharma c wkpr Sangakkara b Herath 2

U Yadav b Malinga 0

Extras (4lb, 12w) 16

Fall of wickets: 1-12 (R Sharma), 2-52 (Dhawan), 3-57 (Kohli), 4-65 (Vijay), 5-118 (Karthik), 6-142 (Raina), 7-153 (Ashwin), 8-153 (Ahmed), 9-166 (I Sharma), 10-187 (Yadav).

Bowling: Kulasekara 9-0-37-1, Mathews 8-2-23-1, Senanayake 10-0-46-2 (2w), Herath 10-0-37-3, Malinga 7.5-0-40-2 (1w).

Result: Sri Lanka won by 161 runs.

Man of the match: Upul Tharanga

Next match – West Indies vs India – July 5