Brisbane, Feb 5: The second ODI between India and Sri Lanka was abandoned due to a constant drizzle at the Gabba Stadium at Brisbane. The rain started as soon as the Indian innings was coming to its end and it continued to rain slightly in the break. The umpires decided to call the match off as there was no respite from the downpour and the ground was left too wet for play.

India posted a very competitive total of 267 runs against Sri Lanka in the second ODI of Commonwealth Bank Series. The Indian camp reached the platform largely due to the century of Gautam Gambhir and an equally significant 88 from MS Dhoni. The duo enthralled the crowd at Gabba with a plethora of boundaries that crossed the fence more often than not.

The duo open fired at the Sri Lankan counterparts at the death overs, amassing more than a hundred runs in the final 10 overs.

Dhoni and Gambhir made their presence felt at Gabba as they blasted the Sri Lankan bowling attack to hit brilliant half-centuries. Their effort was studded with an array of boundaries that took the Indian total past 200 runs. The pair stood rock solid as their partnership went past 100 runs with the batsmen rotating the strike effectively.

The dynamic pair of Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni powered Indian total past 150 runs after the initial loss of wickets that hampered with the growth of the run rate. They milked the bowling for precious runs and dispatched the loose deliveries for smashing boundaries. They built on a strong partnership of over 68 runs, taking a lot of pressure off the batsmen slated to come in later.

Sri Lanka spin king Muttiah Muralitharan had spun a vicious web around the Indian camp as he struck twice in quick succession. He got Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh in an eventful 21st over. India were in trouble with the scorecard reading 84 runs for the loss of four crucial top order wickets. India skipper MS Dhoni walked in to bat as Gautam Gambhir stood solid to give him company.

Earlier, Ishara Amerasinghe claimed his first ODI scalp as he got India’s Virender Sehwag to edge a short of a length delivery into the hands of the wicketkeeper Sangakkara. He departed after scoring 33 runs as India were 80 runs for the loss of two wickets.

India suffered their first setback in the form of Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket. Sri Lanka pacer Lasith Malinga claimed the prized wicket as the batsman dragged an outside the off stump delivery onto his wickets. He departed at a score of 35 runs as India were 68 runs for the loss of a wicket after 15 overs.

Prior to this, India master batsman Sachin Tendulkar reached another milestone as he became the first batsman in international cricket to score more than 16000 runs. He took India to a good position against Sri Lanka along with his partner Sehwag as the duo ensured that the team did not lose any early wickets.

The experienced duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag started their campaign on a positive note. They kept a healthy run rate and rotated the strike with ease.

Earlier, India captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first against Sri Lanka in the second ODI of Commonwealth Bank Series. The only change in the Indian squad was the inclusion of Yuvraj Singh in place of Manoj Tiwari.

The Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene looked optimistic and hoped to be a competitive team in the series.

Meanwhile, in another dampner for the Indian camp, young Rohit Sharma was fined 10% of his match fees for showing dissent against umpire`s decision.

India innings (50 overs maximum) R M B 4s 6s SR

V Sehwag c Sangakkara b Amerasinghe 33 87 39 2 1 84.61

SR Tendulkar b Malinga 35 70 52 2 0 67.30

G Gambhir not out 102 159 101 10 1 100.99

Yuvraj Singh c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 2 14 11 0 0 18.18

RG Sharma c Sangakkara b Muralitharan 0 1 2 0 0 0.00

MS Dhoni not out 88 124 95 5 1 92.63

Extras (lb 3, w 4) 7

Total (4 wickets; 50 overs) 267 (5.34 runs per over)

Did not bat RV Uthappa, IK Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, S Sreesanth, I Sharma

Fall of wickets1-68 (Tendulkar, 14.3 ov), 2-80 (Sehwag, 17.1 ov), 3-83 (Yuvraj Singh, 20.3 ov), 4-83 (RG Sharma, 20.5 ov)

Bowling O M R W Econ

WPUJC Vaas 10 0 72 0 7.20 (1w)

SL Malinga 10 1 56 1 5.60 (1w)

MKDI Amerasinghe 10 2 30 1 3.00

M Muralitharan 10 0 51 2 5.10 (1w)

CK Kapugedera 6 0 23 0 3.83 (1w)

TM Dilshan 1 0 8 0 8.00

ST Jayasuriya 3 0 24 0 8.00

It was important to keep wickets in hand: Gambhir

After losing four wickets in quick sucession, India's game plan in the tri-series match against Sri Lanka was to play safe till the 40th over and then accelerate in the slog overs, according to centurion Gautam Gambhir.

"We had a gameplan to keep wickets till the 40th over and then go for some quick runs. We knew if we had a big partnership, we could accelerate towards the end," said Gambhir, who scored his third ODI century in the rain-abandoned game.

Gambhir (102 not out) shared an unbeaten fifth wicket stand of 184 with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (88 not our) to bail India out of a precarious position.

The two put up a superb partnership and impressed with their running between the wickets.

"Dhoni batted very well and we concentrated on hard running as it is a big ground," the Delhi left-hander said.

"We can get two or three runs by good running on these big grounds and it was important to rotate strike. It is not like in India, where we have small grounds and quick outfields."