Innings India 373 for 7 (Kohli 113, Rohit 83, Gill 70, Rajitha 3-88) vs Sri Lanka
In addition to the top three, India had significant contributions from KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, who both struck at well over 100 through the middle overs.
Among all of India’s India’s outstanding innings, Gill’s 70 off 60 was the purest, reliant on his glorious timing, particularly through the off side. And it was the knock that first signalled a monster total was in the making. He creamed on not-particularly-wide, not-particularly-short deliveries square through the offside in the early overs – Rajitha and Dilshan Madushanka both victims of his sublime touch.
By the end of the fifth over, Gill had raced to 25 off 17, and India were speeding. Then Rohit took over. In one particularly disheartening sequence for Sri Lanka, Rohit walloped Rajitha for two sixes and a four – all using his famed pull shot, one of those sixes coming after he had charged the bowler. His was an increasingly dismissive innings.
Kohli had some luck too, dropped once on 52, and another time on 81, Rajitha the bowler on both occasions. Otherwise, he was imperious through the middle overs. He charged Shanaka to pound hom through mid on to fetch his first boundary, was brutal on errors of length from the spinners, and was strong down the ground against the quicks. He skipped to 24 off his first 14 deliveries, and while putting on small (by the standards of this innings) partnerships with Rohit, then Iyer, never allowed the rate to flag much.
Kohli got to his half century with a six over wide mid on off Dhananjaya de Silva, having come down the track. By this stage, with roughly 35 overs bowled, he and KL Rahul were deep into a partnership that reaped 90 off 70 balls. Kohli scored especially heavily in the arc between mid on and midwicket, but had shots everywhere, of course.
He got to his century in the 47th over, off the 79th ball he faced. It was his ninth ton against Sri Lanka – his joint most against any opposition (West Indies being his other lead victim). It was also his second in successive innings, having hit a century against Bangladesh in December.
Thanks partly to Kohli not quite exploding in the death as he would have wished, India made only 70 runs in their last nine overs, with Chamika Karunaratne and Rajitha delivering some decent finishing overs, given the circumstances. At 303 for 3 after 41 overs, a total of 400 was not inconceivable. But Sri Lanka spared themselves that ignominy.