Sri Lanka Vs India 3rd Test, Day 1: Twitter Reacts As Teams Share Opening-Day Honours
Aug 12, 2017 at 5:22 PM
Sri Lanka clawed their way back into the match by reducing India from 188 for 0 to 329/6 after Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul gave the visitors a flying start on the opening day of the third Test at Pallekele.
After Virat Kohli won his third consecutive toss and decided to bat first, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul provided a solid start as they bullied the Sri Lankan bowlers in the first session of the day to take India to lunch at 134 for 0. Barring a handful of spectators, the stadium was empty and the hosts pegged back by the absence of Nuwan Pradeep and Rangana Herath, did little to make the fans regret their decision.
Left-arm pacer Vishwa Fernando showed promise early on but it was nullified by Lahiru Kumara’s wayward bowling, allowing the Indian openers to settle down and dispatch even the good balls for boundaries. By the end of seven overs, India had 42 runs on the board with Kumara conceding 35 off those in just 3 overs. Dimuth Karunaratne troubled Rahul for a while and even had a top-edged from the batsman balloon over mid-on but Kumara misjudged it and gave the batsman a reprieve. Dhawan soon reached his fifty off just 44 balls while Rahul became the first Indian and sixth overall to hit seven successive half-centuries in Tests.
Pallekele Test: at lunch on day 1, India off to a brisk start. 134 without losing any wicket in the first session. #SLvIND
— Sportzwiki (@sportzwiki) August 12, 2017
The dangerous-looking partnership was finally broken when Malinda Pushpakumara sent back Rahul for 85 with the scoreboard reading 188.
Pallekele Test: KL Rahul misses out on another hundred, departs on 85. Sri Lanka gets the first breakthrough. #SLvIND
— Sportzwiki (@sportzwiki) August 12, 2017
And while Rahul failed to convert his half-century into a century again, Dhawan went on to score his sixth Test century and the second one of this series. But the southpaw could add only 19 runs to his century before becoming Pushpakumara’s second victim.
Pallekele Test: Shikhar Dhawan departs, as Dinesh Chandimal takes a blinder. India lose their second wicket for 219. #SLvIND
— Sportzwiki (@sportzwiki) August 12, 2017
Sri Lanka then dismissed last match’s centurions- Cheteshwar Pujara (8) and Ajinkya Rahane (17) cheaply to leave India reeling at 264 or 5 and consequently the run-rate dropped considerably. 32 runs later the visitors suffered another huge blow when Lakshan Sandakan had Kohli caught at slip for 42.
Pallekele Test: @imVkohli (42) is out caught at slips, Sandakan gets the big fish for the hosts. #SLvIND
— Sportzwiki (@sportzwiki) August 12, 2017
Ravichandran Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha then tried to steady the ship but Ashwin guided one ball to the wicket-keeper and walked back to the pavilion, on a personal score of 31 runs, with just 2 overs left in the day.
Here is how Twitter reacted to the day’s play:
15 sessions in a test match means you can turn around a couple of bad ones. Essence of test cricket. Sri Lanka have shown that.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 12, 2017
Sri Lanka's comeback today isn't due to any eccentricities of the pitch. Just consistent bowling. Better than at any point in the series.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 12, 2017
Indians have thrown away wickets today. #SLvIND
— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) August 12, 2017
Fine fightback by Lanka after the first first 3 hours. But have to restrict India under-400 to have reasonable chance on this pitch
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) August 12, 2017
When he gets centuries, @SDhawan25 also gets them quickly and makes it easier for everyone else. Has made batting look easy again.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 12, 2017
Then : Shikhar Dhawan ka performance, itna kharaab, thoo thoo
Now : Shikhar Dhawan ka performance, thoo thoo, kahin nazar na lag jaaye
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) August 12, 2017
Grab it like Gabbar….making the most of the opportunity coming his way. Dhawan Dominance. #SLvIND
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) August 12, 2017
not sure who is scoring more comfortably. dhawan vs sri lanka or kunal in the wild stone ad #SLvIND
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) August 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/Sarcasticdudee/status/896281227702878208
Right now Karunaratne looks the only threatening bowler, that sums up their bowling #SLvIND
— Anish Telkikar (@telkikar_anish) August 12, 2017
When KL Rahul made 199 against England at Chennai in Dec 2016, he then had 4 100s & 1 fifty in Tests.
Now he has 4 100s, 9 fifties!#SLvInd— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) August 12, 2017
Another very good toss to win for Kohli. Seems all or nothing on that front for him. And the mandatory change too, though forced this time.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 12, 2017
Since the Southampton Test match vs England on 27 July 2014, India has never played the same XI in successive Tests, 35 Tests ago!#SLvInd
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) August 12, 2017