Twitter Reactions: India began ODI series with a thumping victory over the Lankans

The One-Day International series kicked off at Dambulla. India began things in style with a win in what was a pure one-sided encounter. The formats might have changed but Sri Lanka continued to disappoint. India won the game by an astounding 9 wickets and lead the series 1-0. Earlier in the day, it was skipper Virat Kohli who won the toss as elected to field first. India preferred Yuzvendra Chahal over chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav. As for the Sri Lankans, Milinda Siriwardana missed out.

Things did begin well for Sri Lanka. Openers Niroshan Dickwella and Danushka Gunathilaka put up a splendid 74 runs partnership for the first wicket. Somewhere around, you could see the effects of the change in format as Sri Lanka accelerated to 139/1 at the halfway stage.

However, a crucial breakthrough from Kedhar Jadhav triggered a collapse. While Angelo Mathews batted from one end, wickets kept falling at the other. From 139/1, the hosts batting line-up flattered to 216 all out.

The Indian bowlers made a good meal of the batting lineup. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya went wicketless, Axar Patel made full use of his opportunity with figures of 3/34. Bumrah continued to hurl yorkers, managing to grab a couple of wickets. Chahal and part timer Kedhar Jadhav also got two wickets each.

For India, a target of 217 was always going to be a cakewalk with the flat pitch and such a strong batting lineup. The Indian batsmen decimated the Lankan bowlers so badly that the only wicket they lost was through a run out. Adding to that, Rohit Sharma was extremely unlucky to have dropped his bat on his way while running between wickets.

Shikhar Dhawan continued his phenomenal form with a century while Virat Kohli raced his way to a stylish half century. Both stitched an unbeaten partnership of 197 runs for the second wicket as India chased the target with more than 20 overs to spare.

It was yet another hard day on the field for the Lankans and with this kind of batting India boast of, it seems highly unlikely that any target under 350 would be defendable throughout the series. The action now shifts to Pallekele where the second ODI is scheduled to take place. The hosts would be looking to stage a turnaround and level the series.

Here are some of the amazing Twitter reactions during the course of the game: