Day 1 here India 385/6 (90.0 ov)
Batesman Runs B 4s 6s SR.Rate
*Rahul Dravid (rhb) 177 251 26 1 70.51
Harbhajan Singh (rhb) 2 11 0 0 18.18
Superb day's play, whatever side you are on. Good to see a Test after a couple months of limited-overs cricket. It started out Sri Lanka's way and ended with India in command. That this is the case rests largely on Dravid's shoulders. Another innings of sheer determination and class. Not out on 177 out of a total of 385. What a turnaround of events from 32 for 4, after Welegedara swung out the top order. That seems a long time ago now. Dravid was aided by Yuvraj and Dhoni, who played excellently for his second Test century, and is undoubtedly the hero of the day. Began aggressively, ticking along at a strike-rate of over 80, then settled and batted out the entire last two sessions. Congratulations for a fine innings.
Rahul Dravid's 27th century - and tenth 150-plus score - carried more intent than probably any of his Test innings, and helped by MS Dhoni's second century and Yuvraj Singh's seventh half-century, led India's remarkable comeback from 32 for 4 in the first half hour. Along the way, he took part in his 77th and 78th 100-run partnerships (both world records), scored more runs than he ever has in a day's play, crossed Steve Waugh to become the fifth-highest run-getter in Tests, reached 11,000 career runs, and most importantly undid the superb start that two rookies gave Sri Lanka. Chanaka Welegedara and Dammika Prasad were last-minute replacements for Nuwan Kulasekara and Thilan Thushara, but they combined to give India flashbacks of their previous Test in Ahmedabad, when they were shot out for 76 by South Africa.
Dravid saw off Welegedara's swing with three boundaries in one over just after lunch, which summed up how well he played. One of the them was clipped late, to the right of midwicket, the next was cover-driven all along the ground, and the third flicked to the left of midwicket - all despite the swing
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