India start off on a positive note

Dhaka: India defeated Sri Lanka by 50 runs in the Asia Cup one-day tournament in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Virat Kohli (108) and left-handed opener Gautam Gambhir (100) scored centuries as India posted a challenging 304-3 before bowling Sri Lanka out for 254 in the day-night match.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene (78) and Kumar Sangakkara (65) were the main scorers for Sri Lanka, while seamer Irfan Pathan bagged four wickets for India. Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and paceman Vinay Kumar each took three wickets.

It was the 10th one-day centuries for both Kohli and Gambhir respectively, with the former scoring a solid 120-ball 108 and left-handed opener Gambhir a 118-ball 100.

The pair added 205 runs for the second wicket after India had been put in to bat. It was Kohli's second successive hundred against Sri Lanka.

India plundered 78 runs off the last 7.1 overs, with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashing a 26-ball 46 not out and Suresh Raina an unbeaten 30 off just 17 balls.

Tendulkar out cheaply

India lost batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar early in the innings before Gambhir and Kohli bolstered their team's position with their impressive knocks on a slow pitch.

Tendulkar could make only six runs before pushing a Suranga Lakmal full-toss straight to skipper Mahela Jayawardene in the covers.

Sri Lanka then had to wait for 37 overs to get their next wicket as Gambhir and Kohli continued to gather runs comfortably against both pace and spin.

The pair reached their centuries in the 42nd over before both falling in the next over off seamer Farveez Maharoof as they bid to step up the run rate.

Gambhir, dropped on 36 by Dinesh Chandimal at long-on off, made the most of the chance and hit seven fours, while Kohli also struck the same number of boundaries. Maharoof was the most successful bowler with 2-57 off 10 overs. Pakistan beat Bangladesh by 21 runs in the opening match of the tournament on Sunday.

Each side will play the other once in the round-robin league, with the top two advancing to the final on March 22.