Sri Lanka vs India, 3rd Test Match, Day 1: 5 Talking Points

After a comprehensive victory at Colombo and series sealed at 2-0, the focus of India shifted to the Third Test match at Pallekele. Virat Kohli’s new found luck with the toss continued as he won his third consecutive toss in the series and elected to bat first. Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul made batting look as they toyed with a hapless looking bowling attack of Sri Lanka. Dhawan went on to score a ton while Rahul missed out on his. It was a game of two halves with India dominating the first 40 overs and Sri Lanka pulling it back in the next 50 overs. By the end of the day, it was Sri Lanka who would be the happier unit as they managed to see the back of the all the major Indian batsman. India, at stumps, were placed at 329 for loss of six wickets. Let us now take at the five talking points from the day’s play. 1. KL Rahul’s feat Indian cricketer Lokesh Rahul walks back to the pavilion. (Photo by LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images) The Rich form of KL Rahul continued in Pallekele as the right hander brought up his seventh consecutive half century in Tests, following the 57 in Colombo. His innings of 85 came off just 135 balls and a strike rate of 62. He smashed eight crisp boundaries in his breezy knock and looked set to score a Test ton. Rahul joined the likes of Andy Flower, Kumar Sangakkara, Chris Rogers and Everton Weekes who have scored seven consecutive fifties in Test matches. However, he would be kicking himself as he missed out on yet another opportunity to score a ton. The last three figure score for Rahul came during India-England series back in 2016 in Chennai Test, where he scored 199. It will be interesting to see if India gets an opportunity to bat again and KL Rahul scoring his 8th consecutive half century, toppling all records. 2. Shikhar Dhawan’s ton Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan celebrates after scoring a century. (Photo by LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images) Following his knock of 190 at Galle, Shikhar Dhawan continued filling up his boots in the ongoing series with yet another magnificent ton today. His 119 off just 123 balls came at a lighting strike rate of 97, as he smashed a ridiculous 17 boundaries in his inning. Dhawan brought up his ton off just 107 balls, which indicates the dominance he had over the bowlers. This was Shikhar Dhawan‘s sixth century in Test matches and his fifth outside home. 3. Opening partnership Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan and teammate Lokesh Rahul run between the wickets. (Photo by LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images) The opening partnership between Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul, made it look like a one sided contest yet again in the series. Their stand of 188 in just 39.3 overs took the game away from the Sri Lankans in the very first session of the match. This stand between the openers is now the highest by a visiting team on Sri Lankan soil. The duo went about at a ridiculous run rate of almost 5 runs per over, demoralising the Sri Lankan bowlers early in the match. 4. Dismal fielding from Lanka (Photo by LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images) The fielding effort from the Sri Lankan remained dismal as they dropped a couple of crucial catches yet again today. Sri Lanka has struggled to take catches since the ICC Champions Trophy. Thisara Perera and Prasanna dropped Sarfaraz Ahmed twice in the virtual quarterfinals of the tournament and also dropped their chances of progressing into the semi finals. They also dropped few important ones in the Zimbabwe series, which eventually led to their defeat in the series. In this match, they dropped Rahul when he was on 28 while Dhawan was on 1. The duo went on to post a mammoth partnership. Dhawan went on to score a hundred and Rahul posted 85 to the total. In the Galle Test match, they dropped Dhawan when he was on 31. He went on to score 190. They also dropped Rahane, Pandya and Jadeja in the series as they went on to pile on important runs. 5. Sri Lanka pulling it back/ Lankan spin web (Photo by LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images) The match was fast going out of grasp for Sri Lanka with Dhawan and Rahul toying with the Lankan bowlers. However, the turning point in the day was the wicket of Rahul, which led to a mini batting collapse for India. From 188-0, India was reduced to 329-6 by the end of the day, with all the important batsmen back in the pavilion. They also stemmed the flow of runs as the final session of the day saw India making runs at 2.7 runs per over. It was the spin web of Pushpakumara and Sandakan in which the Indians got entangled in. The Sri Lankans held on to their catches and provided able support to their spinner. Pushpakumara removed Rahul, Dhawan and Rahane while Sandakan saw the back of Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara. With the second new ball, Fernando also chipped in with a wicket, thanks to a brilliant catch from Dickwella. By the end of the day, Sri Lanka held the upper hand as they pulled it back for themselves post Lunch.

Topics

Featured Section

Current Series

Cricket Fantasy Tips

Cricket Stats

IPL Teams

ICC Rankings

Interviews

Twitter Reactions

Cricket Appeal

Social Tracker

More Links

# Follow Us

Other Sports

Sri Lanka vs India, 3rd Test Match, Day 1: 5 Talking Points

Sri Lanka hold the upper hand after the end of Day 1

2. Shikhar Dhawan’s ton

Latest Articles

Samson has proven his worth time and again: Hayden

Samson's controversial catch shifted momentum of match: Ojha

Jake Fraser-McGurk reveals Ricky Ponting’s advice to him