cricket

Updated: Jul 21, 2017 20:28 IST

India ended the first day of the two-day warm-up game against Sri Lanka Board President’s XI in a commanding position. Riding a 4/14 from chinaman Kuldeep Yadav and a controlled spell from Ravindra Jadeja, India bundled out the opposition for 187 before ending the day at 135/3. With captain Virat Kohli (34) and Ajinkya Rahane (30) unbeaten at stumps, India are still 52 runs behind with seven wickets in hand. (HIGHLIGHTS)

Home team captain Lahiru Thirimanne won the toss and chose to bat. But it was India who drew first blood when pacer Mohammed Shami got Kaushal Silva caught-behind in just the third over of play. India could not have asked for a better start but the match quickly turned on its head when Thirimanne came to the crease.

He proceeded to put on a 130-run partnership with opener Danushka Gunathilaka, with both players playing shots freely. For a period of more than two hours, India failed to get another breakthrough as both batsmen raced to half centuries.

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At one point, it seemed as if both Gunathilaka and Thirimanne could go on to score centuries. However, the breakthrough finally came for India in the 38th over when Ravindra Jadeja dismissed Thirimanne.

Jadeja also got Dhananjaya de Silva’s wicket at the end of the same over. He later dismissed Ashan Priyanjan to end the day with figures of 3/31. The dismissal of Thirimanne and De Silva in the same over prompted a collapse as the remaining batsmen put up just 48 runs for the home team.

Kuldeep was introduced late but he didn’t take much time to affect the proceedings as he made quick work of the lower middle-order. The chinaman bowler ended with figures of 6.5-2-14-4 and showed once again why he is so highly rated. Shami was the most effective among the pacer bowlers, taking 2/9 from five overs with an economy of just 1.8. Overall, eight bowlers were tried by Virat Kohli.

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Like their opponents, India’s innings had a stuttering start too. Abhinav Mukund was bowled first ball he faced from Vishwa Fernando while Cheteshwar Pujara dug in for a 41 ball-12 before being dismissed.

KL Rahul, who returned to competitive cricket after a three-month spell on the sidelines, though put in a good performance, scoring a brisk 54 off 58 balls before being bowled by Kasun Rajitha. Kohli and Rahane then shared an unbeaten 43-run partnership to get India past the 100-run mark. The priority for India will now be to try and ensure that their remaining batsmen too get some quality time in the middle before the first Test at Galle.