Pallekele: Sri Lanka spinners managed to restrict some things for their team as India did not get the most out of Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul’s 188-race opening post to finish Day 1 of the third Test in 329 / 6 here on Saturday.
For Sri Lanka, Malinda Pushpakumara and Lakshan Sandakan climbed three and two wickets, respectively, while Vishwa Fernando dismissed Ravichandran Ashwin in eighth place to end Sri Lanka’s day.
After Virat Kohli won the pitch and chose to hit, Dhawan, who brought his sixth Test ton, and Rahul, who entered the record books by scoring his seventh consecutive 50-round test, made the most of the batting conditions later Of some fortunate reprieves.
The duo scored 134 runs in the opening session and threatened to take the Sri Lankan cleaners before Pushpakumara took Rahul out in his first fight in the second session. Sri Lanka manged to scalp two more wickets in that session as Shikhar Dhawan (119) and Cheteshwar Pujara () were also dismissed before tea.
While Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane were expected to rejoice in a friendly wicket with the hitters, the two could not score many with Kohli leaving for 42 outside Sandakan and Rahane coming out at the Pushpakumara bowling alley. R Ashwin, who once again contributed the bat with 31 runs, was the last man to come out before stumps like Hardik Pandya and Wriddhiman Saha managed to keep his wickets before the end of the day of play.
India 329/6 from 90 overs:
STUMPS! And that is the end of today’s work. It was a bit of a roller coaster ride on day 1. India got off to a good start, but Sri Lanka bounced back with a few quick wickets at the end of the day, to keep things in balance. However, India has maintained a relatively high execution rate, which gives them the advantage, especially since they have a deep hitting line.
India 322/6 from 88 overs:
SHUTTER! The hosts are getting quick wickets at the end of the day, here. India may have an impressive run rate, but they have already lost six wickets, something that could go on to prevent another grand total. Ashwin ran out of the stump, pulling Dickwella behind the gate. The guardian of Sri Lanka did well to take a snorkel catch.
India 296/5 of 79 overs:
SHUTTER! Sri Lanka gets the big wicket! Virat Kohli returns to the pavilion, while he is going to push off the trunk. The ball took a heavy outer edge and flew directly to Dimut Karunaratne, who had a good catch on the slips.
India 264/4 from 65.4 overs:
SHUTTER! The stay of Ajinkya Rahane in the center comes to an end, as he can not connect a delivery of Malinda Pushpakumara. Rahane danced down the court to play one through the leg, but the ball went through his bat and pad to disturb the wood. Sri Lanka is making peace after India’s grand opening position.
India 229/3 from 50.1 overs
SHUTTER! Another who bites the dust! Pujara, who has shown a great propensity to play the long innings of this series, returns to the pavilion after facing only 33 balls. It hits hard on a short throw from Sandakan, but manages to finish it for the goalkeeper. Dickwella was taken completely by surprise, however, as the ball took another nick out of its cushions, and flew to Angelo Mathews in the first glide, which finally grabbed the ball.
India 219/2 from 47.1 overs
SHUTTER! Dinesh Chandimal takes an absolute blinder on the square leg. Pushpakumara has come up with the products once again as both Indian starters are back in the pavilion now. Dhawan goes for a flat sweep of Pushpakumara. He was firmly beaten in the middle of the bat. Unfortunately for Dhawan, he was beaten within the range of Chandimal. The captain of Sri Lanka still did very well to react in and take a dive catch with both hands. India now has two new hitters in the fold, exactly what Sri Lanka would have wanted.
India 188/1 of 39.3 overs:
SHUTTER! Finally, some relief for Sri Lanka when KL Rahul comes out. Pushpakumara attacks on his first time that Rahul is trapped in the middle. He tried to take on the spinner at his first but failed. India loses its first wicket of the third Test after an opening post of 188 races. Cheteshwar Pujara joins Dhawan in the middle.
India 170/0 of 35 overs:
There is no respite for Sri Lanka, as Rahul and Dhawan have continued to leave before lunch. The two are having no difficulty as they continue to produce out runs at ease. India are clearly dominating the procedures, as they seek to publish another India continued its dominance over Sri Lanka while KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan hammered 134 runs in the opening session of Day 1 of the third and final test here Saturday. Indian starters justified the decision of captain Virat Kohli to choose at bat while the two scored at a good pace to push Sri Lanka into the backfoot. While Dhawan was nervous at first, Rahul also hadGoogle Translate for Business: Translator ToolkitWebsite Translat
