Delhi: Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay dictated terms for India as the hosts are now in a commanding position against Sri Lanka on Day 1 at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Saturday.
The Indian captain justified his decision of batting first as he and opener Vijay shared a mammoth 283-run stand for the third wicket which drained the fight out of the opposition. Vijay, who made a hundred in Nagpur in his comeback Test match notched up a fine 155 of 267 balls which consisted of 13 fours. Kohli, on the other hand owned the day courtesy an unbeaten 156, his third three-figure in consecutive Tests and first in his home ground. The talismanic right-hander once again proved why he is considered as one of the modern-day greats as he got the better of the Lankan bowlers, who really had a tough day in the field. Kohli also became the first Indian captain to achieve the feat of scoring three consecutive hundreds on two different occasions. Earlier, he had recorded the same feat against Australia in 2014-2015.
But the Sri Lankans finally had something to cheer about at the end of the day after dismissing Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane in a short span of time. In a series where all the other Indian batsmen have had a good time with the bat, Rahane failed to make any impact whatsoever which is indeed a cause of concern for the hosts, ahead of the South Africa tour.
Chinaman Lakshan Sandakan was the best bowler for the visitors with two wickets while Lahiru Gamage and Dilruwan Perera got one each.
Brief scores-
India 371/4 (Virat Kohli 156 n.o, Murali Vijay 155; Lakshan Sandakan 2/110) vs Sri Lanka