The India vs Srilanka test series 2015 has a lot at stake. If India wins the series, it can rise up to number 3 in the Test ranking. It also marks the beginning of the end of Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara.
Angelo Mathews won the toss and asked India to bowl first. The Galle international Stadium had seen some heavy rain before the start of the play, but the sun had come out and dried the ground in quick time.
India under their new captain Virat Kohli changed from a 4 bowler attack to 5 bowler attack with Ishant Sharma, Varun Aaron, Harbhajan Singh, R.Ashwin and Amit Mishra being the 5 main bowlers in the team. Also, Rohit Sharma was preferred over Cheteshwar Pujara for the number 3 spot. KL Rahul opened with Shikhar Dhawan after M.Vijay was ruled out due to an injury to his hamstring.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, went with 2 spinners in Tharindu Kaushal and Rangana Herath, with Dhammika Prasad, Nuwam Pradeep and Angelo Mathews sharing the fast bowling duties. The feeling as also surreal as Kumar Sangakkara was playing the penultimate Test of his 15-year long career.
The play started and soon the Indian fast bowlers had the upper hand with both Ishant and Aaron picking up the wickets of the openers with vicious and surprise bouncers. Both the opener Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva had no idea when Ishant and Aaron bowled bouncers to them at the speed of high 80 mph.
Kohli saw the opportunity and brought on R.Ashwin from one end. He struck almost immediately removing Kumar Sangakkara, who gave an easy catch to the silly point fielder. Next to go was Thirimanne for 15, who received an absolute peach of a delivery from Ashwin. All he could do was prod forward and give a catch to Rahane in slips. Jehan Mubarak also fell to Ashwin for a duck, caught at short leg.
Captain Mathews and keeper Chandimal struck a partnership together of 79 runs, as Ashwin was kept away from the bowling attack after the lunch was taken. Aaron came in for some rough treatment at the hands of Chandimal who hit him for 4 fours in an over.
But Ashwin was brought back and he removed Mathews to a brilliant catch by Rohit Sharma at short leg and Dhammika Prasad was out lbw a few balls later. Amit Mishra was called on and he picked up the wickets of Chandimal, who went for a wild slog and was caught in slips and the wicket of Tharindu Kaushal off consecutive deliveries.
Ashwin came back to end an attacking cameo by Herath who made 23 runs and picked up his 6th wicket of the match. The 3rd spinner Harbhajan Singh was economical but was not able to pick up any wicket.
India’s innings started with caution, but Dhammika Prasad dismissed KL Rahul lbw for 7 runs. And captain Mathews accounted for Rohit Sharma, who is batting at no.3 for just 9 runs. But Shikhar Dhawan (53*) and Virat Kohli (45*) have made 100 runs together and India is well set to dominate the proceedings on day 2 at 128-2.
Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli have added 100 runs together.
The Sri Lankan bowlers failed to impress on a pitch where Indian spinners wreaked havoc. Both Tharindu Kaushal and Rangana Herath failed to gain any purchase from the wicket and Kaushal was at fault bowling close to 5 no balls in his 8 overs.
Scorecard - 1st innings:
- Sri Lanka 183 (A. Mathews 64, D Chandimal 59; R. Ashwin 6/46)
- India 128-2 (S. Dhawan 53*, V Kohli 45*; A Mathews 1/12) at the end of Day 1.
The Day 2 of the Test match will be shown live on Sony Six and Sony Six HD. The Live streaming of the match can be watched online on SonyLiv.com.
Statistics:
- Shikhar Dhawan completed his 1000 runs in Test cricket when he hit his first four of the innings.
- 6/46 - R.Ashwin recorded best ever figures for an Indian bowler in Sri Lanka.
- Amit Mishra took his first Test wicket after 4 years. Last time he took a wicket was against England on 3rd August 2011.
