India has batted reasonably well on the opening day of the first test match against Sri Lanka at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium (PCA) in Mohali. The home team went past the 350 run mark after day one, mainly because of the cameo innings played by Rishabh Pant, who scored 96 runs in the 1st innings.
India won the toss and elected to bat first in the first test match. India has added three spin bowlers, and they have gone with two pace bowlers for this Test match. Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Jayant Yadav are the three spin bowlers, while Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami will be the pace bowlers for the hosts in this Test match.
Sri Lanka has read the PCA surface differently than India. The visitors have added just one spinner in their playing XI, which proved mighty effective on this surface at Mohali. Lasith Embuldeniya looked quite impressive with his bowling today. The Lankans needed another spinner in the match as per the surface.
India had a bright start, but they couldn’t kick on –
Rohit Sharma played test cricket as a captain for the first time in today’s match. Hit Man looked good for the first few overs against the Sri Lankans bowlers. The visitors did trouble the Indian openers. But both Rohit and Mayank bailed those extra and low bounce deliveries out.
Rohit and Mayank hit a few lovely shots, and they looked in firm control of the proceedings after a half-hour of play. India reached the fifty-run mark, and things looked good for the home team to build on this start.
Rohit Sharma scored a boundary on the previous shot ball of Lahiru Kumara. But Hit Man went for another big heave which Rohit didn’t connect, and it was a simple catch to Suranga Lakmal near the boundary ropes. Sri Lanka got the breakthrough, and India wasted this good start.
Vihari and Kohli steadied the ship for India till lunch –
After the fall of the Indian skipper, Mayank Agarwal and the new number 3 batter, Hanuma Vihari, started the rebuilding process. Hanuma Vihari replaced Chesteshwar Pujara at the number three batting position.
They shared a mini stand before Lasith Embuldeniy caught Mayank plumb in front. Like his skipper Rohit Sharma, Mayank was dismissed after a decent start. Mayank Agarwal was out for 33 runs.
Virat Kohli came out to bat on the eve of his 100th Test match. The former Indian skipper and Vihari batted well through the lunch break. They had shared a 90 run partnership which kept India in the Test match. India didn’t lose any further wickets and scored 109 runs in the first session of day one in Mohali.
Sri Lanka clawed their way back after lunch –
India gain looked in control of the Test match as Virat Kohli, and Hanuma Vihari looked good at the crease. Vihari scored his half-century before the lunch interval, and Kohli was just about to get there on the eve of his 100th Test match.
But the hosts again allowed the game to drift away just like Indian openers did earlier in the innings. Sri Lanka picked up the big fish, and Hanuma Vihari, too, couldn’t last long for the team despite his good start.
Lasith Embuldeniya played in India for the first time, and he did the bulk of the damage for his team. He picked up Virat for 45 runs, and Vihahri was out to Vishwa Fernando for 58 runs.
Rishabh Pant’s cameo knock took India past the 350 run mark –
India lost two big wickets in succession, and it was the two new batters when India went for the Tea interval. Pant walked out to bat with Shreyas Iyer as both the batters looked to grind themselves hard in the much-needed situation of the team. India had scored 90 runs in the second session, and they lost two wickets.
Pant and Iyer, the two DC players of the past, snitched a partnership that kept India along nicely. Pant displayed his full range of strokes to keep the pressure on Sri Lankan bowlers. Shreyas Iyer wasn’t dismissed in the T20I series, which India won 3-0, and he was off to a confident start in this Test innings.
But it was Dhananjaya De Silva who made Shreyas Iyer out early in this innings. Iyer got himself the start, and he was out for 27 runs. Ravindra Jadeja joined Pant at the crease after Shreyas Iyer and Jaddu supported Pant well.
Pant got to his half-century in 27 balls, and he looked hungry for more. Jad played decently well, and he is close to reaching the fifty. He is still battling. But Pant missed his well deserved ton by just four runs. He was clean bowled by Suranga Lakmal for 96 runs. India got more than 350 runs mainly because of the Pant and Jaddu’s partnership.
India has scored 357 runs for the loss of six wickets. Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin will be the overnight batters for tomorrow, another engrossing session. India had a lengthy batting lineup for this Test match as Ashwin, and Jayant Yadav can also bat. They have scored Test hundreds for India, and they will look to add another 150 or more runs to keep Sri Lanka under pressure.
Sri Lanka’s bowling –
The visitors got the breakthroughs each time when they needed. They broke the opening stand, the wicket of Kohli and Pant also came at the right time. But they should have gone with one more extra spinner. Lasith Embuldeniya looked good. He took two scalps while Lakmal, Fernando, Kumara, and De Silva picked up one wicket each.
