On a day where India consolidated, Dhawan registered his 4th hundred – his slowest in Tests, while Kohli scored his 11th and 4th as captain.
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A clatter of wickets fell in the second session, either side of the second new ball, before Wriddhiman Saha’s rousing 60 took India’s lead into that category that makes Test match teams sleep well enough. With Ajinkya Rahane exiting for a blob and Dhawan losing his concentration to chop N Pradeep on to his stumps, Sri Lanka suddenly found a window to limit India’s lead. Dhawan chopped one onto the stumps after making 134 in 271 deliveries with 13 fours. “Then Saha finished the innings nicely”, Dhawan said. Maybe Dhawan, a devotee of traditional Sufi music, is even singing. As a batsman, I just wanted to stay as long as possible. The skipper had trouble sweeping Herath, and then pacer Nuwan Pradeep, in an attempt to stifle, tried to bounce him from around the wicket.
Kohli got going quickly and brought up his 11th Test half-century off 90 balls in the 38th over, fourth of the morning. “If I hadn’t had any pain, my score could have been more”.
Kumar Sangakkara’s farewell Test cricket will be marked by the issue of special commemorative postage stamps, the Post Master General of Sri Lanka Post has revealed. But India’s two all-action stars were not to be denied.
“It was a challenge to bowl to good batsmen like Dhawan and Kohli”. It’s easy to bowl with him around. “That’s what wickets like these demand”.
Kohli was oout lbw by Tharindu Kaushal right after scored his century (102). But umpire Bruce Oxenford denied Lanka that breakthrough.
Muralitharan also rated Sangakkara’s double hundred against Pakistan in the final of the Asian Test Championship at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in March 2002 as one of his defining knocks. If you get afraid of them, it’s not good for me as a bowler. “He said if you get one wicket you will end up taking five, so be patient”, Kaushal signed off.
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“It was a brilliant effort from Ashwin on the very first day of a Test. It is because of him that India is in a commanding position”. The century came with a sweet extra-cover drive off Dhammika Prasad past a clutch of frozen fielders. “The major difference in my batting is that I am not giving too many chances to the opposition”. Giving credit to Ravichandran Ashwin for India’s domination in the ongoing Test, he further said the off-spinner looked risky as he got a lot of turn.
