Agency, Galle :After two overcast and wet days, blue skies and bright sunshine welcomed everyone here on the opening day of a historic Test series that will see the legendary cricket career of Kumar Sangakkara draw to a close. But it was India and Ravichandran Ashwin who made all the right moves on day one of the first Test, which gave the visitors early control. An overseas best of 6 for 46 by Ashwin made the hosts’ decision to bat look like a mistake as the offspinner ran through the Lankan batting, which could muster only 183 in 49.4 overs. Sri Lanka’s batting effort looks even poorer considering 113 of those 183 runs were made two batsmen – skipper Angelo Mathews 64 and Dinesh Chandimal 59 – and the rest eight managed just 70 together. But all that was down to one Indian, Ashwin, who never let the batsmen settle, producing his best figures in a Test out of India. The visitors didn’t begin well, losing opener KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma cheaply – the latter dismissal giving rise to the debate of Rohit Sharma vs Cheteshwar Pujara, who was left out of the eleven. Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan got their heads together at 28 for 2 to take India to stumps on the back of a solid 100-run unbroken partnership. Kohli was not out at 45 and Dhawan stood firm at 53 at close of play on Wednesday, to trail the hosts by just 55 runs. Play began with a slight delay due to sight screen issues, but once it did, Ishant Sharma was on the money in a lethal seven-over spell that produced the kind of carry that even took wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha by surprise at times. That, at least after day one, hints that one of India’s five bowlers may remain under-bowled at the end of the game. But Ashwin said the wicket is “tacky” and may not have such pace and bounce as the match progresses. “The wicket was very tacky in the morning. As the game goes on, it might get low,” the star of the day said in his post-match address. The last time India played three spinners on foreign soil happened in Colombo 18 years ago, when the hosts piled on world record 952 for 6 declared. But Wednesday was in strike contrast. Ishant struck soon bouncing out Dimuth Karunaratne for 9 as he took evasive action to lob an easy catch for Rahane in the seventh over of the innings. Dhawan made amends for his early drop by taking a stunning catch off Aaron. Kaushal Silva (5) walked back as the second man succumbing to the bounce of Indian pacers. At 15 for 2, a few firecrackers went off in front of the Galle fort as Sangakkara, playing his last Test at the venue, made his way into the middle. But Sanga soon had a heart-in-mouth moment as an edge flew off his flashing blade to whiz past Rahane for a boundary, leaving Ishant with hands in the air. Ashwin was brought in to bowl at the hour mark and caught the big fish straight away. Sanga (5) couldn’t believe his luck when a forward defence off the middle of his bat was snapped up brilliantly by KL Rahul at silly mid-off to spark celebrations in the Indian team and disappointment among the crowd. From that point on, Ashwin took control of the proceedings, with none of the Lankan batsmen, except Mathews and Chandimal, having an answer to his questions. India’s close-in catching continued to impress as Lahiru Thirimanne too was caught behind the wickets by Rahane for 13 to give Ashwin his second wicket. Jehan Mubarak’s presence in the eleven raised further doubts when the left-hander couldn’t contribute and became Ashwin’s third victim of the day for a duck, again caught in the close-in ring by Rahul. Until this point, only Mathews, who was joined by Chandimal, showed some fight taking the attack to the Indian spinners as lunch break arrived at 60 for 5. It was bit of a surprise to see Harbhajan into the attack straight after lunch since Ashwin was bowling superbly from the same pavilion end. Ishant was brought back for his second spell from the fort end and was in business straight away; however, he was let down by Saha who dropped a sitter off Chandimal’s bat. The Sri Lankan middle order batsman got another reprieve when he was on 25 as Dhawan missed a direct hit at the non-striker’s end from mid-on. Mathews, meanwhile, reached fifty with a straight six over long-on off Harbhajan. He continued to take his chances, including a thick edge that beat Rohit’s stretch-dive in the slips to go for a boundary. Rohit made amends soon pulling off a stunning, juggling catch at short leg to get rid of Mathews for 64 and give Ashwin his fourth wicket. It also importantly ended a 79-run sixth-wicket partnership that almost revived the hosts’ innings. Ashwin soon completed his second consecutive five-for on foreign soil by removing Dhamika Prasad for a duck. In fact, two of the last four Lankan batsmen failed to trouble the scorers. Chandimal, the other notable contributor in the innings, made 59 as Mishra struck off consecutive delivers to remove him and Tharindu Kaushal off successive deliveries. He finished with figures of 2 for 20. Ashwin then wrapped up the Sri Lankan innings at the stroke of tea by dismissing Rangana Herath, who used the long handle to good effect to notching up useful 23 off 24 balls. Indian innings, opened by Rahul and Dhawan, didn’t start on a promising note as Prasad struck early to catch Rahul LBW for 7 in just the third over. Rohit was lucky to get a life when on 8 as after being declared LBW by the umpire, replays showed that Prasad had bowled a no-ball. But nothing came to Rohit’s rescue the second time when, on 9, he was trapped again in front by skipper Mathews, leaving India at an uncomfortable 28 for 2. Thereon, Dhawan and Kohli got their act together, other than a mix up at 77 for 2 when Dhawan tapped to mid-on and ran for a quick single but Kohli didn’t move, forcing the India opener to scamper back. And he was saved as the throw went to the wrong end. The duo looked more comfortable against spin than any of the Sri Lankan batsman on show today, though that takes nothing away from Ashwin’s brilliant display. They hardly looked in trouble taking India to 128 for 2, which completed their unbeaten century stand before umpires dropped the stumps declaring close of play.
