Dambulla, January 28:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir cracked half-centuries to upstage Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya as India posted a six-wicket win in the opening one-dayer here today.

Gambhir made 62 and Dhoni an unbeaten 61 to help India achieve a 247-run target with 11 balls to spare for a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. Gambhir set up the win with a 113-run stand for the second wicket with Suresh Raina (54) before Dhoni completed the job. Rohit Sharma remained unbeaten on 25.

The Indian batsmen overshadowed Jayasuriya, who made 107 to become the oldest batsman to smash an ODI century and the second to complete 13,000 runs. Jayasuriya’s century came at the age of 39 years and 212 days, beating Englishman Geoff Boycott’s ton made at 39 years and 51 days in 1979. Jayasuriya is now the world’s second-highest scorer with 13,070 runs after India’s Sachin Tendulkar (16,427).