SL vs Ind 2nd Test Day 1: Pujara, Rahane tons power India to 344/3 at stumps
Colombo: India produced a dominant display on the first day of their second Test against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports club, in Colombo on Wednesday, as the look set for a big first innings total.
Cheteshwar Pujara (128 not out) and Ajinkya Rahane (103 not out) were the stars of the show, as they notched up an unbeaten 211-run partnership, to steer India to 344/3 at stumps on Day 1.
KL Rahul (57) had also gotten off to a smooth start after the early departure of opening partner Shikhar Dhawan (35). Interestingly, Rahul equalled the feat of former India legends Gunduppa Viswanath and Rahul Dravid, as he notched up his sixth half century in as many innings; he also became the fastest Indian to achieve this feat, completing it in his 18th Test.
It was a hard day’s toil for the Sri Lanka bowlers, who only managed to pick up three wickets, on of which (Rahul), was a run out. Dilruwan Perera (1-68) and Rangana Herath (1-83) were the only bowlers to pick up wickets.
To add to their miseries, Sri Lanka, who started with just one pace bowler in their XI, Nuwan Pradeep, lost the 30-year-old’s services on the 81st over, due to a suspected hamstring issue.
The hosts had just taken the new ball, and Pradeep had bowled four balls from his over, before he pulled up, and left the field.
Scorecard:
India: 344-3 from 90 overs. (Cheteshwar Pujara 128, Ajinkya Rahane 103; Dilruwan Perera 1-68).
Match as it happened:
India 344/3 from 90 overs
STUMPS! And Pujara closes off the day's play with a stylish flick on the leg side, picking off an easy two runs off Rangana Herath's bowling. Much like the Galle Test, India have been the dominant force on Day 1, as they have nearly 4 runs per over.
India 338/3 from 85.2 overs
Ajinkya has played a fine innings here, to notch up the 9th Test century of his career. The Mumbai batter has barely been troubled by the Lankan bowlers on his way to this century. Pujara and Rahane also brought up their 200-run partnership, just prior to Rahane's century.
India 329/3 from 83 overs
Sri Lanka have some real problems now. Nuwan Pradeep, the only pace bowler in their XI has walked off the field with, what seems to be, a hamstring issue.
India 317/3 from 80 overs
The Indian batsmen look very comfortable out there. Sri Lanka are desperately looking for a way back into the game. Chandimal immediately goes for the new ball, once the 80 overs are done.
India 301/3 from 77 overs
India bring up their 300-run mark, as Pujara and Rahane score off the Sri Lanka bowlers with ease.
India 272-3 from 69 overs
Cheteshwar Pujara continued his good form as he clinched his 13th Test hundred. Just before, Pujara got his ton, it was Ajinkya Rahane who brought op his 13th Test fifty. 13, which was an unlucky number for captain Kohli, was however lucky ones for both Pujara and Rahane. The two have put up a fantastic partnership of 137 runs.
India 238/3 from 38 overs
India continued to move forward on the first day of the second Test as Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane kept the team going. Rahane has reached his 40s, while Pujara looks set to score yet another fine century.
Captain Virat Kohli departed for an unlucky 13 as Herath got the wicket of the captain. Sri Lanka will hope for yet another breakthrough in the post-tea session.
India 183/3 from 48 overs
In form batsman Cheteshwar Pujara got to his 16th Test fifty, as the partnership between Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane inched 50 runs. This is his second half-century in the series, after his fine knock of 153 in the first Test. Pujara, with this fifty, has crossed the 4000-run mark in Tests.
India 133/3 from 38.5 overs
WICKET! Oh, what a stunner! Angelo Mathews' fielding has given Sri Lanka their third wicket of the morning. Virat Kohli departs. Rangana Herath has his first wicket and Sri Lanka continue to do well in the second session on Day 1. Kohli goes for the cut, edges and Mathews, in the slips, makes sure he held onto that sharp chance.
India: 110/2 from 30.4 overs:
WICKET! RUN-OUT! KL Rahul departs shortly after lunch. What was going on there! Yes, no, chaos and gone. Pujara runs on Rahul's call only to change his mind mid-way. Rahul is gutted, India 2 down. Sri Lanka jubilant after a wicket out of no where.
India: 101-1 from 28 overs
LUNCH! This has been a good session for India. Although the run rate has come down from over 5.5 runs per over to 3.6, the Indians will be largely happy with the match so far, as KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara tick things over at a steady pace.
India: 101-1 from 27 overs
WICKET! KL Rahul seems to have justified his selection here. He faced some difficulty in the previous four deliveries by Rangana Herath. However, he put that behind him, to dance down the track, and hit an uppish drive over mid-off for a boundary as the ball bounced just inside the ropes. The Karnataka batsman has brought up his 6th consecutive Test half century. This is also the 8th Test 50 of his career. Rahul finds himself in the illustrious company of Gundappa Viswanath and Rahul Dravid, as he becomes only the third Indian batsman to achieve this feat.
India: 56-1 from 10.1 overs
WICKET! The danger man is gone. Dhawan attempts to sweep Dilruwan Perera off his very first ball, but fails to make any contact, as the ball goes on to strike him on the pads. DRS has not been very kind on the Lankans, who have had a decision overturned last over, but they seem to have found the rub of the green this time round. The full length ball straightened after pitching. Snicko did not spike at all as it went past the bat and the gloves. Ball tracking technology showed that it would have gone on to hit the leg stump. Dhawan becomes the first victim of the match.
Playing XI:
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Upul Tharanga, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal (c), Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera, Malinda Pushpakumara, Nuwan Pradeep.
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav.
Preview: Both India and Sri Lanka are set to get their reinforcements ahead of the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club, in Colombo, on Thursday.
While hosts Sri Lanka welcome back their pneumonia-struck skipper Dinesh Chandimal, India are looking ahead to have regular opener KL Rahul back in their XI.
Chandimal’s return will be a huge boost for the Lankans, who suffered a 304-run thrashing at the hands of the visitors in the first Test, at the Galle International Stadium, last week.
India captain Virat Kohli, on the other hand, is faced with a big dilemma. Abhinav Mukund was brought in as a replacement for the injured Murali Vijay, with Rahul being slated to be his partner at the top of the batting order during the three-match Test series in Sri Lanka; Shikhar Dhawan was brought in as a third choice opener.
However, both Dhawan and Mukund have made strong cases for their selection in the second Test, with a 190 in the first innings and 81 in the second, respectively.
It would be interesting to see whether Sri Lanka Test captain Chandimal’s return can inspire his legions to rise out of their slump.
