India dictate proceedings on Day 1 as Pant and Vihari score half-centuries

India started their bilateral affair against Sri Lanka with a bang as all of their batters contributed handsomely and Rishabh Pant went ballistic towards the end to secure a staggering 158 runs from the last session.

India won the toss and elected to bat first as Rohit Sharma was straight down to business playing a handful of exotic strokes. Mayank Agarwal played the perfect support to Rohit’s early onslaught before he was bested by Lahiru Kumara’s pace.

Mayank got off to a decent start but failed to flip it into a big knock as he stuttered for a modest 29 with Embuldeniya claiming the opener with a quicker delivery.

Shaking things up, Dravid went with Hanuma Vihari ahead of Virat Kohli at number three and the batter repaid the management’s faith with amplified returns as he played a solid role in the middle alongside India’s finest witnessing a remarkable feat in the making.

Virat Kohli achieved the remarkable feat of 100 Test matches and also racked up 8000 Test runs with a fine push to the point region in the 39th over.

Kohli stitched together an emphatic knock before Embuldeniya produced an absolute ripper to kiss his timbre, leaving him bamboozled and disappointed at the same time. Hanuma Vihari departed in quick succession, opening up a window of opportunity for the visitors to sting India.

However, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant came together to shake off the initial jitters as the partnership stabilized India’s ship before Jadeja’s calm allowed Pant to press his feet on the gas.

Pant started his band of resistance slowly but started picking up pace in the second half of his innings as he slammed Embuldeniya for a fiery 22 runs in an over, indicating the onset of a devastating catastrophe. Much to Sri Lanka’s relief, Pant’s aggressive stance backfired as Suranga Lakmal got the better of him with a barreling bullet.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja have already added 25 runs for the following wicket where the former’s last-ball boundary acted as a microcosm of India’s thorough dominion of the visitors throughout the day.