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India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test Day 2 Highlights: India post 574/8, Sri Lanka 108/4 at stumps

Jasprit Bumrah removes Angelo Mathews

Lbw appeal, given out, and Mathews review. Probably a close call. On the umpire's call, he will be out. In the end, it is two umpire's balls: both on impact with the pad and with the wicket. Bumrah bowls this slightly short, Mathews is back and playing for the angle, but the ball holds its line and squares him up for the back pad flap to be struck. When the ball hits the pad, a small part of it is inside the line of off and there is another umpire's call on height.

Bumrah clean bowled Nissanka on a no-ball

Clean bowled off a no-ball. It seems like a slower ball, but it does, hitting the top of the wicket, but the siren ends the celebrations. Nissanka has no idea what to do with this slower ball, but Bumrah has comfortably overstepped. 

Sri Lanka 75/2 after 28 overs: After the first wicket, Sri Lanka have slowed down. They have been extra defensive against the Indian bowling lineup. And, playing that slow against that massive total on the board can surely dent their confidence. Oh! Ravindra Jadeja comes into play and he immediately strikes in his first over. There is nothing that the dynamic allrounder can't do. He has got a golden bat, golden arm for his team in this match and with the amount of turn he's getting, Lankans should be worried for the upcoming overs. 

Sri Lanka 50/1 after 21 overs: After a suttle start provided by the Lankan openers, R Ashwin strikes for India as he found Thirimanne plumb in front of the stumps. The visitors were very watchful against the Indian spinners, especially Ashwin, but the off-spinner has a knack of foxing batsmen with his variations. Not only his wicket, but Lahiru also burnt a review for his team. Nissanka comes in at No 3 for Sri Lanka. Hope he also bats smartly and takes his time before going for his shots. 

Sri Lanka 41/0 after 15 overs: Sri Lanka openers came out with an intent to stay there and not play rash shots. They saw off the new ball from the Indian pacers and tried to score runs with proper cricketing shots. Even the pitch didn't offer anything extra to the Indian bowlers forcing them to bring spinners early on. With such a massive total on the board, Lankan openers should look to stem out a solid foundation for the remaining batters. India should just stick to their plan of keeping it tight and wickets will fall automatically. Patience is the key to that kind of a surface. The visitors are nearing a 50-run opening stand on Day 2. Interesting times ahead for SL. 

Rohit Sharma-led Team India on Saturday gave a guard of honor to maverick batter Virat Kohli in the batter's 100th Test

India declare:

India 574/8 after 129.2 overs: India continue to dominate Sri Lanka as Jadeja is toying around with the bowlers. Shami is still playing a second-fiddle role for now. Jadeja is in such a mood that he takes de Silva for cleaners with a boundary followed by a maximum to complete his 150 runs in this game. No sword celebrations after that. Shami also looking to free his arms after those boundaries. Jadeja is nearing 200 runs which could be a magnificent milestone for the southpaw. The hosts now have crossed the 550-run mark against Lankans which includes a 100-run stand between these two. Oh! That's heartbreaking. Ravindra Jadeja isn't allowed another 25 runs for that maiden double ton in Tests. Rohit signals and India declare after reaching up to 574/8 with Jadeja and Shami remaining not out. And, that's an early Tea taken as well by the umpires.

Ravindra Jadeja makes a great comeback in Test match with his second century

India 508/8 after 121 overs: Sri Lanka have something to cheer about. They have struck just after Lunch as Jayan't short stay comes to an end. Fernando bowls a good away swinging delivery to produce a nick off the Jayant's willow. Good catch taken at slips. The right-handed batter couldn't upset the opposition. But, even an early wicket now won't bother India as they have comfortably gone past the 500-run mark on Day 2. Jadeja is still out there in the middle and the hard-hitting Mohd. Shami arrives at the other end. We might witness some raining sixes from the pacer. Jadeja after settling in for a bit has suddenly started to hit quick boundaries. Shami would be tempted to join the party. 

Lunch Break

India 468/7 after 112 overs: India will spend a great time at Lunch. It's a complete session for the hosts. They have already passed the 450-run mark in the first innings and will look to cross 500 runs after Lunch. Jadeja and Ashwin stitched a big partnership of 100 plus runs for the eighth wicket and that has put India on top. Jadeja never looked like he was out of cricket for some months. Ashwin has also contributed brilliantly with the bat and this will boost his confidence once he comes out to bowl. Ashwin is caught off Lakmal's bowling after scoring a well-deserved half-century. But, that doesn't stop Jadeja at the other end as the allrounder has completed his second century in whites for India. This is turning out to be a dream comeback match for him. And, there comes the sword celebration for the second time in this game. India will be very pleased with the scorecard and especially Jaddu being not out. Let's see what Karunaratne and co. have got in return. Join us back in 40 mins.

This duo is having a great time out there in the middle

India 440/6 after 105 overs: India are completely bossing at the drinks break as the duo of Jadeja and Ashwin have motored their team to go past the 400-run mark. Sri Lanka opted for the wrong strategy of beginning with the spin and that helped the batters to settle down with ease. They have hardly taken any risks against the visitors' bowling lineup as they kept on rotating the strike and stealing boundaries off the loose deliveries. The Lankans already look tired in the first session and this is expected to be another long day for them. They should now try to be proactive in the field and get at least one of them before the Indian batters walk happily at lunch. This is getting really tough for the SL as Ash and Jaddu have forged a 100-run stand. India's lower order is quickly wiping out the Lankans even before Lunch.  

That's a FIFTY for Ravindra Jadeja

India 386/6 after 94 overs: Sri Lanka make a strange move of starting off with a spinner in the early morning of Day 2. And, here comes the sword celebration from Jadeja after he completes his fifty. Good returns from the southpaw in his comeback match. Sri Lanka should use their premium pacers to exploit the early morning conditions and try to trouble the Indian batters. Using spinners at this stage would just give the opposition more advantage. Ashwin would look to take some time if he wants to perform better as a bowling allrounder. Ash and Jaddu have added more runs to their bank as they both look to extend their side's first innings score. The duo has completed a 50-run stand for the eighth wicket. Alarming signs for Sri Lanka ahead as IND are nearing the 400-run mark.

Day 2: 

A minute’s silence was observed before the start of play on Day 2 of the first Test for Rodney Marsh and Shane Warne who passed away yesterday.

Day 1 Report

Pant, Vihari score fifties; India 357/6 at stumps on Day 1

Half-centuries hit in contrasting styles by Rishabh Pant (96 off 97 balls) and Hanuma Vihari (58 off 128 balls) powered India to a formidable 357/6 against Sri Lanka on day one of the opening Test at the IS Bindra PCA Stadium on Friday.

It was a day where all the Indian batters got starts after Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first, but could not translate into big scores, except Pant and Vihari. Sri Lanka stopped Virat Kohli from reaching a fifty in his landmark 100th Test but couldn't stop Vihari and Pant from making a big impact with the bat.

Their bowling attack, which had three seamers and one specialist spinner, was in complete contrast to the three spinners and two pacers picked by India on a pitch that had grass all over except the full-length area.

India were quick in racing to 62/1 at the end of the first hour in a totally dominant show by the opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal. The duo made the most of the wayward line and length from Sri Lanka bowlers, who struggled with keeping the run-flow and no-balls in check.

But Sharma fell while trying to pull off Lahiru Kumara to fine leg, falling yet again while trying to unfurl his favourite shot after doing so twice in the over. Vihari, coming in at number three for the first time in Tests, began well with delightful shots on both sides of the wicket.

Vihari continued to grow comfortable at number three while seeing Agarwal prod forward and be beaten on the inner edge off Lasith Embuldeniya. Kohli entered the crease with loud cheers and didn't disappoint fans as he presented full face of the bat for a glorious straight drive off Vishwa Fernando.

Post-lunch, Vihari gently drove a full toss from Embuldeniya down the ground. He and Kohli slammed boundaries and looked at ease to bring up the fifty of the partnership for the third wicket. Vihari reached his fifty in 93 balls with a single through fine leg. Kohli, with his 38th run, brought up his 8000th run in Test cricket with a neat single through point. It made Kohli the second player after Australia's Ricky Ponting to reach 8000 runs in the 100th Test.

The 90-run partnership between Vihari and Kohli came to an end as Embuldeniya got the latter out for 45. The left-arm spinner got a fuller ball to turn just a little bit past Kohli's outer edge, trying to defend on back-foot, to hit the top of off-stump. Three overs later, Vihari aimed to drive away from the body but chopped onto his stumps off Fernando.

Losing two wickets in quick succession pushed India on the back-foot. But Pant, promoted to five in order to counter Embuldeniya, walloped the left-arm spinner over long-on and added a 53-run partnership with Shreyas Iyer to take India out of a tricky situation. Sri Lanka's troubles increased when Kumara walked off the field without completing his over.

But part-time off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva separated the duo by getting one to spin back in from round the wicket and beat Iyer's inside edge to trap him plumb lbw in front of stumps.

Pant then got support from Ravindra Jadeja, who stole boundaries off de Silva and Embuldeniya. The left-hander was unafraid to play the waiting game while showing signs of aggression to get boundaries in order to reach his fifty in 73 balls.

From there, Pant shifted gears in blazing fashion, dancing down the pitch and lofting twice over long-on and deep mid-wicket for back-to-back sixes. Pant then cut Embuldeniya twice through cover and point to take 22 runs off the over.

De Silva also came under attack from Pant, who he'ved him over the bowler's head for four followed by a loft down the ground for six. Pant further took de Silva to cleaners with successive fours through deep mid-wicket and down the ground.

Sri Lanka got a much-needed breakthrough soon after taking the second new ball as Pant fell short of his century by just four runs. Pant, who made 46 in his last 22 balls, tried to defend on the backfoot with no footwork off Suranga Lakmal but the ball went through the gate to clip the off-stump bail. Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin slammed five fours to maintain India's comfortable hold on day one. At stumps, Jadeja was batting on 45 and Ashwin on 10.

Brief scores: India 357/6 in 85 overs (Rishabh Pant 96, Hanuma Vihari 58; Lasith Embuldeniya 2/107, Dhananjaya de Silva 1/47) against Sri Lank