Visitors Sri Lanka cruised through the first of three ODIs, beating India's modest score of 112 with seven wickets to spare.
India were given a rude shock on their return to one-day international cricket on Sunday when the side was dismissed for 112 in 39 overs at Dharamsala. However, the scoreline could have been far more embarrassing had it not been for M.S. Dhoni's knock of 65.
The shock of India's batting collapse was evident in the fact that top five batsmen (Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik and Manish Pandey) didn't get to double figures. Of them, Kartik and Dhawan were dismissed for zero. Suranga Lakmal was the wrecker in chief, scalping four wickets for 13 runs in his 10 overs.
India were at a grave risk of being dismissed below 54, their lowest score yet, which incidentally also came against Sri Lanka 17 years ago. It was also India's worst display in the power play phase; the fifth wicket fell in the 14th over, with 16 runs on the board!
However, Dhoni's solo rescue act (with 2 sixes and 10 fours) saved the hosts more blushes. Dhoni's assault with the lower order raised India's run rate to just short of three per over.
