Riding on the brilliant half-centuries from Hanuman Vihari and Rishabh Pant, Team India posted 370 for 6 against Sri Lanka in the first innings in Mohali. At stumps, the all-rounder duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were at the crease. While Jadeja was unbeaten on 45, Ashwin was batting on 10 not out.
The final session of the first day’s play witnessed some rollicking fireworks from wicketkeeper-batter Rishab Pant. Batting at No. 5, the left-hand batter smashed 9 boundaries and 4 sixes during his stint at the crease. After getting his 8th Test fifty, the 24-year-old shifted gears and began dealing in boundaries. He mostly targeted the Sri Lanka spinners, smashing them all around the Bindra Stadium.
He was rooting for his 5th Test century but fast bowler Suranga Lakmal quashed his plans by cleaning him up on 96. Before heading back to the dressing room, he already had stitched a 104-run stand for the fifth wicket.
Earlier in the second session, Sri Lanka had the upper hand as they dismissed Virat Kohli and Hanuma Vihari before the Tea break. The Indian duo looked in decent touch as they put a 90-run partnership for the third wicket.
Playing his 100th Test, Kohli was dismissed on 45 off 76 balls as he was deceived by Lasith Embulendiya’s sharp turn and was bowled which left the premier batter stunned and he stood in disbelief. He walked back to applause from spectators for the landmark match.
Vihari scored his fifth Test half-century but departed soon after Kohli’s dismissal as he dragged an incoming delivery from left-arm quick Vishwa Fernando onto his stumps. He scored 58 runs off 128 balls while batting at the number 3 spot.
In the morning session, Rohit Sharma, who last month replaced Kohli as captain across all formats, hit Lahiru Kumara for two successive boundaries including a well-executed pull but soon got caught at long leg in another attempt to smash the short ball.
Embuldeniya, one of the two slower bowlers for Sri Lanka — hoping for the first-ever Test victory in India in their 300th five-day game — trapped Mayank Agarwal lbw for 33.
Before the match, Kohli, alongside Bollywood actress wife Anushka Sharma, was presented with a special cap by coach Rahul Dravid as top officials of India’s cricket board including president Sourav Ganguly clapped from the balcony.
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