India vs Lanka 2nd Test: Rahul century lifts India

Opener Lokesh Rahul scored his second Test hundred but Sri Lanka hit back to capture six wickets as India ended day one of the second Test at the P Sara Oval on 319 for six wickets.

The honours looked to be heading in favour of India until Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews struck in the final over of the day to get rid of the last of the recognised batters Rohit Sharma for 79 trapping him lbw.

Sharma paced his innings well hitting three sixes and five fours in his 132-ball innings and had formed 52-run liaison for the sixth wicket with Wriddhiman Saha (19) when he was dismissed.

The final session was Sri Lanka’s most fruitful capturing three wickets. Apart from Sharma’s dismissal they also removed centurion Rahul as well as Stuart Binny.

Mathews strikes a crucial blow trapping Rohit leg before soon after which stumps are drawn. Ind 319-6, 87.2 overs.

Rohit Sharma lbw b Mathews 79 (132b 5x4 3x6)

Rohit pulls Prasad for a six to bring up the 300 of the innings.

The second new ball has been taken with India 296-5 in 80 overs.

Herath gets a breakthrough as Binny perishes attempting to hit inside out only miscuing to long off. Ind 267-5, 71.5 overs.

Stuart Binny c Chameera b Herath 10 (40b 0x4 0x6)

Chameera finally gets Rahul who top edges a wide ball to give Chandimal a skier. Ind 231-4, 59.2 overs.

Lokesh Rahul c Chandimal b Chameera 108 (190b 13x4 1x6)

Rahul completes his second Test century with a couple off Kaushal in the second over after tea. Ind 210-3.

Tea

Opener Lokesh Rahul and Virat Kohli helped India recover from a poor start to post a tea time score of 206 for three wickets on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at the P Sara Oval.

The pair came together with Indian in some kind of trouble at 15-2 and they figured in a third wicket stand of 164 before Sri Lanka managed to break through by getting rid of Kohli for 78.

The Indian captain who had played fluently for 107 balls hitting eight fours and a one six was out to a brilliant diving catch at slip by his vis-à-vis Angelo Mathews when he edged Rangana Herath to give the bowler his first wicket of the innings.

Rahul who enjoyed a life at 11 when Jehan Mubarak dropped  a sitter at gully batted solidly to be unbeaten on 98 at the break having faced 174 balls and hit one six and 12 fours.

Batting with Rahul was Rohit Sharma whose unbeaten 17 comprised a six and one four.

Kohli’s was the only wicket for Sri Lanka in an afternoon session dominated by India.

India progressed to 206-3 at tea, adding 109 for the loss of Kohli (78) in the afternoon, with Rahul unbeaten on 98. Rohit is with him on 17.

Rohit gets into his stride by driving Herath inside out over extra cover for a boundary before thumping a six to bring up the 200 of the innings. Ind 204-3, 52 overs.

Rahul sweeps Herath to square leg for a boundary to move to 94. Ind 191-3.

Mathews takes a brilliant catch at slip to dismiss Kohli who attempts to run Herath to third man. Ind 176-3, 43.3 overs.

Virat Kohli c Mathews b Herath 78 (107b 8x4 1x6)

Herath comes in for stick with Rahul hoisting him for a six. Ind 151-2.

India are on top with runs coming easily as Kohli smacks Chameera through midwicket for another boundary. Ind 130-2.

Rahul drives Prasad beautifully through the covers to bring up his half century and also the century partnership with Kohli. Ind 114-2.

Kohli completes his 11th Test half century in the second over after lunch. Ind 100-2.

Lunch

India recovered from a disastrous start to take lunch on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at 97 for two wickets at the P Sara Oval.

Winning the toss and batting first India were rocked in the early overs by Dhammika Prasad who took two wickets for 18 runs in his opening spell of five overs to have them struggling at 12-2.

Prasad trapped Murali Vijay lbw for a duck and followed it up with the wicket of Ajinkay Rahane for four when the batsman chased after a wide delivery and offered a catch to Dimuth Karunaratne at third slip.

Sri Lanka would have had India under tremendous pressure had not Jehan Mubarak dropped a sitter from Rahul at 11 in the gully off the third delivery bowled by Dushmantha Chameera on his return to the side from injury.

Rahul capitalised on that lapse to forge a useful third wicket partnership with skipper Virat Kohli which had produced 87 runs off 131 balls by lunch.

Rahul was unbeaten on 39 scored off 83 balls (5 fours) at the break and Kohli on 48 not out 64 balls with four fours and a six.

The pair batted confidently against the Lankan attack which was pretty decent without being threatening.

Prasad had figures of two for 29.

Prior to the start of the match Kumar Sangakkara who is making his final Test appearance was accorded a guard of honour by schoolboys with raised bats as he took the field.

India have reached 97-2 in 26 overs at lunch with Kohli (48) and Rahul (26) leading the recovery after losing opener Vijay and Rahane cheaply.

Prasad grabbed both wickets to reduce India to 12-2 after winning the toss.

India would have been in dire straits had Mubarak pouched a chance by Rahul on 11 off Chameera's first over.

Kohli dances down the track and clubs Herath back over his head for the first six of the match. Ind 73-2.

Rahul drives Prasad through the covers to bring up the 50-run partnership with Kohli off 79 balls. Ind 65-2.

Kohli pulls a short ball from Chameera to the square leg fence. Ind 54-2.

Rahul hits the first boundary after the drinks break punching Mathews while Kohli jabs Chameera through the slip cordon. Ind 48-2.

Kohli gets going with two consecutive boundaries off Chameera. Ind 40-2, 10 overs.

Rahul ends Chameera's first over by driving down the ground on the onside for a boundary. Ind 25-2.

Rahul is dropped on 11 by Mubarak at gully in Chameera's first over.

Rahul gets a boundary easing Prasad through midwicket. Ind 19-2.

Double blow for India as Prasad strikes again with Rahane falling cheaply playing away from his body and edging to third slip. Ind 12-2, 4.3 overs.

Ajinkya Rahane c Karunaratne b Prasad 4 (11b 1x4 0x6)

Rahane hits the first boundary of the innings opening his account by flicking Prasad to fine leg.

Horror start for India as Vijay departs for a duck trapped leg before in the first over by Prasad. Ind 4-1, 0.4 overs.

Murali Vijay lbw b Prasad 0 (4b 0x4 0x6)

Kohli has won the toss and India have opted to bat first in the second Test at P Sara Oval.

Vijay, Stuart Binny and Umesh Yadav are in for Shikhar Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh and Varun Aaron.

Sri Lanka have one forced change with Dushmantha Chammera coming in for the injured Nuwan Pradeep.

Teams

Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara, Angelo Mathews, Jehan Mubarak, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhammika Prasad, Rangana Herath, Tharindu Kaushal, Dushmantha Chameera

India: Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Stuart Binny, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav

Preview

A recovering Murali Vijay is likely to open the innings for India in the second Test against Sri Lanka beginning on Thursday as the beleaguered visitors chase a series-levelling victory.

India's second innings implosion while pursuing a moderate 176-run victory target in the first Test has put the hosts in lead in the three-match series.

Compounding the visitors' problems, opener Shikhar Dhawan - their top scorer at Galle - has been ruled out of the remainder of the series with a fractured hand.

India have flown in pace-bowling all-rounder Stuart Binny but Dhawan's absence is likely to force the team management to ask Vijay, nursing a hamstring injury which kept him out of the Galle Test, to partner Lokesh Rahul.

"Today's practice session is important, we would know if he is 100 per cent fit to play," India skipper Virat Kohli said ahead of what would be Sri Lankan batting great Kumar Sangakkara's international swansong.

"His rehab is going well... Hopefully he is fully fit. If he wants to play and is keen, I'm sure he can go through the little discomforts he might have," Kohli said.

"We will have to take a call but we are pretty certain he is going to make it tomorrow."

The Indian skipper also threw his weight behind Binny whose inclusion might come at the expense of veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.

"We got Stuart here because his bowling gives us the balance and at number six his batting can be handy," Kohli, in his first full series as India captain, said of the 31-yer-old all-rounder.

"You can keep him for later on in the innings to give you control or... if the wicket is helpful, with the new ball, why not?

"It's all about how you use him, as attacking option or as defensive option in the middle as it gives other bowlers rest. It really depends on how the wicket behaves but I'm sure he can do both jobs."

Kohli has struck centuries in each of the four Tests he has captained India but is yet to taste victory as skipper.

"It's never a nice feeling when you lose," Kohli, 26, said.

"I would rather have the team win games, than to get frustrated that as a batsman I am getting runs but we are not getting the results."

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.