Pallekele Test: Middle order falters after Dhawan ton as India reach 329/6

Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan plays a shot during the first day of the third and final Test match between Sri Lanka and India at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele AFP PHOTOShikhar Dhawan continued his golden run but a rare flop show from the famed middleorder saw Sri Lanka restrict India to 329 for 6 here on the first day of third cricket TestCourtesy Dhawans 119 sixth Test hundred and a record 18run opening stand with KL Rahul 85 India looked good for a score close to 400 after opting to batHowever some fine bowling in the final two sessions by leftarm spinner Malinda Pushpakumara 340 in 18 overs and chinaman Lakshan Sandakan 284 in 25 overs helped Sri Lanka gain some foothold when stumps were drawn on the opening dayThe inform Cheteshwar Pujara 8 last Tests centurion Ajinkya Rahane 17 were dismissed cheaply while skipper Virat Kohli 42 was dismissed after getting setHowever Kohli had been reaching out to play the spinners from his crease and ended up edging the ball to first slip off Sandakan in the 79th overRavichandran Ashwin 31 looked compact but became leftarm seamer Vishwa Fernandos scalp at the fag end of the day Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha 13 batting who survived a DRS appeal for caught behind then brought up Indias 300 in the 81st over even as the visitors were in dire need of a partnership to make their morning advantage countThe duo added 26 runs for the 6th wicket and negotiated the second new ball properly as well But Ashwin was caught behind off Fernando two overs before stumps leaving India with more work to do on the second dayEarlier it was yet another solid start from Dhawan and Rahul as they bettered the highest opening stand against Sri Lanka in away Tests going past the 173run stand between Manoj Prabhakar and Navjot Sidhu during the 1993 seriesRahul missed out on another Test hundred miscuing one straight to Dimuth Karunaratne at midon off leftarm spinner Pushpakumara in the 40th over His 135ball knock had eight foursDhawan though stayed and scored his second hundred of this series off 107 balls He added 31 runs with Cheteshwar Pujara 8 but the latter did not look very comfortable despite good batting conditionsDhawan was caught at square leg thanks to a leaping effort from skipper Dinesh Chandimal a second dismissal against the run of play as he was just looking to cut loose with a flurry of boundariesDhawan faced 123 balls in his knock and punished the home bowlers with 17 boundariesWhen you work hard and it pays dividends it gives you a lot of satisfaction Even when I was not in the Indian team I was still enjoying my game at the domestic level and following the process that is needed at this level Dhawan said after his inningsDhawan said that being happy has always helped him remain positive even during tough timesI always try to remain happy and that reflects in my game Even though people perceive me as happy go lucky when I am out there batting I know what my job is I have matured over the years Even when I made my Test debut I had a good 8 years of firstclass cricket behind me said DhawanThe ever dependable Pujaras discomfort at the crease came to an end as he was caught at first slip off Sandakan in the 51st overHe put on only 10 runs with Kohli as India were left to rebuild their innings despite being in a comfortable positionEarlier Dhawan who scored at a brisk pace and Rahul settled down quickly on an easypaced wicket with true bouncePaceman Lahiru Kumara was very expensive in his first six overs leaking 41 runs while Fernando also could not keep the batsmen in check So much so that Karunaratne had to be introduced early into the attack and was the best Lankan bowler on display in the morning sessionThe opening duo brought up its 50partnership off just 55 balls in the 10th over and kept up this pace of scoring to reach 100 off 107 balls in the 18th overThey remained in control even when the hosts introduced spin into the attack in the form of Dilruwan Perera For Rahul it was his seventh successive fifty in Test cricket overtaking Gundapppa Viswanath and Rahul Dravid both with six halfcenturies eachWith Yadav and Sandakan featuring in the match it is only the second time since 2004 when two chinaman bowlers are playing in the same game after Dave Mohammed West Indies and Paul Adams South Africa at Cape TownYou may also like In pictures These sports stars are also birthday buddies