Nagpur, October 25:

Sachin Tendulkar smashed 93 off 96 balls on his return from an elbow injury as India whipped Sri Lanka by 152 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the seven-match one-day series.

Irfan Pathan hit a career-best 83 and new captain Rahul Dravid stroked an unbeaten 85 off 63 balls to lift India to 350-6 from 50 overs in perfect batting conditions at the Vidarbha Cricket Association ground.

Sri Lanka managed 198 in reply as off-spinner Harbhajan Singh grabbed three wickets in his first three overs and super-sub Murali Kartik polished off the tail with his left-arm spin. Kumar Sangakkara’s 43 was the top score for Sri Lanka, who were struggling at 126-8 before Chaminda Vaas (37 not out) and super-sub Dilhara Lokuhettige (29) delayed the inevitable.

Tendulkar, the world’s most successful limited-overs batsman, showed no signs of the tennis elbow injury that kept him away from the game for six months as he plundered nine boundaries and two sixes.

The 32-year-old, playing his first international match since the April 17 one-dayer against Pakistan in New Delhi, did not look back after taking two consecutive boundaries in seamer Farveez Maharoof’s opening over. Tendulkar, whose much-awaited return was watched by a sell-out crowd of 40,000 home fans at the stadium and millions on television, took his world record tally to 13,735 runs from 349 matches.

Left-hander Pathan, promoted to number three, revelled in his new role as a pinch-hitter by blasting eight fours and four sixes during a second-wicket stand of 164 with Tendulkar.

The duo took the Sri Lankan attack apart before both fell in successive overs trying to force the pace. Pathan holed out to point off Tillakaratne Dilshan, while Tendulkar narrowly failed to increase his record haul of 38 one-day centuries when he edged Maharoof to Sangakkara.

Dravid, who won the toss and elected to bat first, hit eight fours and a six as India smashed 100 runs in the final 10 overs. The second match will be played under lights in Mohali on Friday.

SCOREBOARD

India

V Sehwag c Sangakkara b Vaas 20

S Tendulkar c Sangakkara b Maharoof 93

I Pathan c J’wardena b Dilshan 83

Y Singh lbw b Dilshan 14

R Dravid not out 85

M Dhoni c J’wardena b Fernando 38

A Agarkar run out 1

J Yadav not out 3

Extras: 13 (lb5, w4, nb4)

Total: 350/6 (50 overs)

FoW: 1-41, 2-205, 3-207, 4-247, 5-316, 6-319

Sri Lanka bowling: Vaas 9-0-67-1, Maharoof 10-0-82-1, Fernando 10-0-66-1, Muralitharan 10-0-49-0, Dilshan 6-0-40-2, Chandana 5-0-41-0

Man of the match: Rahul Dravid (India)

Sri Lanka

S Jayasuriya c Dravid b Harbhajan 27

M Atapattu b Pathan 1

K Sangakkara c & b Sehwag 43

U Chandana st Dhoni b Harbhajan 3

M J’wardena b Kartik 17

R Arnold b Harbhajan 0

T Dilshan b Kartik 23

F Maharoof st Dhoni b Kartik 2

C Vaas not out 37

D Lokuhettige b Sreesanth 29

M Muralitharan c Kartik b Sreesanth 6

Extras: 10 (lb2, w6, nb2)

Total: 198 (35.4 overs)

FoW: 1-10, 2-74, 3-76, 4-88, 5-88, 6-118, 7-121, 8-126, 9-189

India bowling: Pathan 5-0-34-1, Sreesanth 5.4-0-39-2, Agarkar 3-0-20-0, Harbhajan 10-0-35-3, Sehwag 3-1-20-1, Kartik 9-0-48-3