KL Rahul’s ton caps an even day

The first day of the 2nd test Sri Lanka vs India was slightly overshadowed as home-hero Kumar Sangakkara picked it to be his final test ending an illustrious career spanning more than a decade. It was an emotional step-out for Kumar Sangakkara as he made out to the middle under a guard of honour with bats. The faces of the junior cricketers all dressed in their whites told the story of a nation preparing to bid goodbye to their most celebrated son.

India’s opening batsman Lokesh Rahul, playing just his 4th test, notched up his 2nd hundred in International cricket to give India the edge on a closely contested day.

Having been dropped at gully by Jehan Mubarak, with his score just 11, Rahul, who had failed in the 1st test, made the most of his good fortune to pull India out of trouble early on day 1.

Earlier in the day, having won the toss, Indian skipper Virat Kohli decided to take first lease of the wicket at the P. Sara stadium. Angelo Mathews, Sri Lanka’s captain, said he would have bowled anyway, expecting the pitch to stay true to its usual self and assist his seamers early on. Things went horribly wrong for the Indians early on with Dhammika Prasad trapping Murali Vijay plumb in front on just the 5th delivery of the match. Prasad, who was getting the ball to move off the seam, then had Ajinkya Rahane caught at gully in the 5th over. Rahane, surprisingly promoted to no. 3, was out playing away from his body, giving Dimuth Karunaratne a simple catch.

Virat Kohli walked in with his side in dire-straights at 12 for 2. Rahul was put down at gully by Jehan Mubarak off Dushmantha Chameera’s bowling when the Indian total was just 20 and then Rangana Herath too let him off the hook off his own bowling, when the total was 49. Kohli, on the other hand, looked comfortable at the crease right from the word go and along with Rahul, proceeded to take things away from the Sri Lankans. The Indian batsmen took their chances against the spinners, dancing down the track and sweeping, as Tharindu Kaushal struggled yet again with his length. India were 97 for the loss of 2 wickets at lunch.  

Dhammika Prasad kept Kohli quiet early in the 2nd session, getting the odd ball to seam off the pitch. However, once he survived Prasad’s spell, Kohli grew dominant once again, Chameera in particular bearing the brunt of his attack. Rangana Herath finally broke the 164 run stand late in the 2nd session, when he had Kohli beautifully caught by Angelo Mathews at slip, but by then the damage had been done. The wicket seemed to bring some life to Rangana Herath and he gave India a few nervous moments but Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul rode out the storm and the scoreboard read 206 for 3 at tea.

Having only lost one wicket in the post lunch session, India looked to consolidate their position in the last session of the day, with Rahul bringing up his 2nd hundred in test cricket. He was dismissed however, by Chameera soon after, giving Sri Lanka a sniff at getting back in the game. Stuart Binny was sent in to bat ahead of Wriddiman Saha and made his attacking intentions clear early on in his innings. He went for one too many shots however, and fell to a well tossed up delivery from Herath for 11 off 40 deliveries.

Saha then joined Sharma at the crease and the pair dug in to put on 62 runs for the 7th wicket. He looked much more accomplished at the crease when compared to Binny and managed to keep the scoreboard ticking as he gave Sharma the strike. Rohit Sharma seemed to have put his dismal performance in the 1st test behind him, as he stroked his way to a valuable 79 runs but was out LBW, right at the end of the day’s play, to an Angelo Mathews inswinger.

India will commence day 2 at 319 for the loss of 6 wickets.

Brief Scores – India 319/6 (KL Rahul 108, Rohit Sharma 79, Dhammika Prasad 2/72, Rangana Herath 2/73)

BCCI Hony. Secretary Anurag Thakur presenting a memento to Kumar Sangakkara (Courtesy – SLC)

Full Scorecard (Courtesy – BBC Sport)

India 1st Innings