< >

Vijay, Kohli daddy hundreds lift India to 371/4 on day one

by Sandeep Shivam Saturday 2 December 2017

Murali Vijay (left) and Virat Kohli shared 283 runs for the third wicket

©REUTERS

India 371-4 (Kohli 156no) v Sri Lanka
Third Test, Delhi, day one
Scorecard

Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay scored unbeaten 156 and 155 respectively as India extended their domination over Sri Lanka with another majestic batting performance to post 371 for four at stumps on day one of the third Test in Delhi.

India won the toss and decided to bat first without any hesitation on a Feroz Shah Kotla pitch that had decent grass on it.

Both Vijay (155) and Kohli (156 not out) looked in no trouble throughout with the latter scoring a boundary in the third delivery he faced signalling the intention. With Vijay too dealing in boundaries, he reached his fifty in the final over before lunch during which India were positioned 116 for two.

Shikhar Dhawan (23) and Cheteshwar Pujara (22) - the only wickets that fell in the first session too looked in decent touch with four boundaries apiece before becoming the victim of Dilruwan Perera (1-97) and Lahiru Gamage (1-68) respectively.

Dhawan fell in the 10th over when he holed out to deep square leg and it was also Perera's 100th scalp in Test cricket while Pujara nudged one to leg gully.

The duo of Vijay and Kohli continued from where they left with the Indian skipper scoring back to back boundaries to bring 5,000 Test runs - the fourth fastest for an Indian behind Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.

His 50 came in the 37th over that had three more boundaries in it and all he needed was just 52 deliveries to reach the milestone as another long day awaited Sri Lanka. The second session produced 129 runs for India off just 31 overs without a loss of wicket with Vijay completing his second century in two games.

Lakshan Sandakan (2-110) was the most suffered Sri Lankan bowler as the duo plundered him for 70 runs in the first 13 overs while the other bowlers too hardly troubled the Indian pair.

The third session started with celebration as Kohli completed his 20th Test ton and after surviving an LBW review from Sri Lanka, he brought the 200 run partnership with Vijay.

Meanwhile, there was something to cheer for Sri Lanka as Sadeera Samarawickrama, who left the field due to an on-field injury was cleared to return to play on the second day after undergoing a precautionary scan. The milestones kept coming for Kohli as he reached 3,000 Test runs as captain and also the 250 run partnership came.

Just as Vijay reached the 150 run mark, a tired shot saw him get stumped off Sandakan, who also got Ajinkya Rahane (1) in his next over. Kohli managed to remain unbeaten at stumps and Rohit Sharma (6 not out) accompanied him as well with India posting 371 for four and having all the momentum heading into the second day.