Third Test: Rain forces early stumps on day one, India 50 for the loss of 2 wickets
At stumps India were 50 for the loss of 2 wickets.
Winning the toss, Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews asked the visiting team to bat first.
His bowlers did not disappoint as Dhammika Prasad struck gold in the very first over of the day removing the in-form K L Rahul for 2. The Karnataka batsman misjudged an incoming delivery from the pacer and left it alone to only to see his stumps flying moments later.
Ajinkya Rahane, coming at number three, played two superb straight drives for fours but missed out a straighter ball from Nuwan Pradeep. The appeal for leg before wicket was made with an instant nod, as the Mumbaikar walk back slowly, dejected to have missed out on a bigger score.
Cheteshwar Pujara opening the innings, played sensibly along with Indian skipper Virat Kohli to deter any further scare by the hosts.
Rahane departed for 8. Kohli (14) and Pujara (19) will look to build on the promising starts when play resumes on day two, here at Colombo.
Earlier in the day, Naman Ojha, coming in the squad in place of the injured Wriddhiman Saha, made his debut.
For Sri Lanka, Nuwan Pradeep and Dhammika Prasad picked up a wicket each while giving away 16 runs.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
