Ajinkya Rahane's ton helps India undo Sri Lanka

Ajinkya Rahane scored his second ODI century to help India beat Sri Lanka by a massive 169-run margin in the first ODI played in Cuttack on Sunday.

Sri Lanka's captain, Angelo Mathews, won the toss and put India in to bat first. But the move backfired as India's openers, Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan, laid a foundation that Sri Lanka's bowlers found difficult to uproot.

The duo mixed caution with aggression early on in their innings and posted 43 runs in the first ten overs. Rahane, the less aggressive of the two, hit his first boundary in the sixth over, when he smashed Lahiru Gamage to the deep backward square leg boundary.

The right-hander began to switch gears from the eleventh over onwards and clubbed two fours and a six off the next five overs. He brought up his fifty off 61 balls, with five fours and one six.

He was dropped by Kumara Sangakkara in the 18th over. He made the tourists pay for the let off. Rahane and Dhawan delivered a staggering mid-innings attack that yielded 96 runs in just eight overs.

Sri Lanka's bowlers had no answer to the relentless attack from India's openers. Rahane reached triple figures from just 99 balls and Dhawan followed suit four-balls later, with a six over midwicket.

The 231-run opening stand was finally broken in the 35th over after Dhawan edged one on to the stumps. Rahane followed three-overs later for 111.

But the damage had already been done and the foundation set by India's openers helped their side post a massive 363 in their innings. Sri Lanka's batsmen failed to mirror India's exploits and crumbled for just 194 in 39.2 overs.

"Both my hundreds are equally important. The first 10 overs were slightly challenging but later on it got really easy for us. Shikhar and I really enjoyed batting in the middle. The team asked me to open so I was happy to open. I'm just thinking of this series right now. We've started really well and will take one game at a time," Rahane said after being named Man of the Match.