Kohli, Vijay hit tons as India dominates
Sri Lanka was at the receiving end of India's ruthlessness as the home side’s batsmen enjoyed a run-feast in the third Test at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi on Saturday.
M Vijay and Virat Kohli plundered the runs as the former scored his second consecutive century (155), while the India captain got his third successive ton (156*), powering India to 371 for 4 by the end of the first day.
Sri Lanka struck twice each, early and late in the day, but the 283-run stand between Kohli and Vijay for the third wicket defined the day's play. Vijay batted in a typically solid and elegant manner while Kohli's was an effortless knock that mirrored his recent form.
Incredibly, India scored its runs at a rate of 4.12.
Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara, who made 23 each, fell in the first session while Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane (1) were undone by Lakshan Sandakan at the fag end of the day to give Sri Lanka some late cheer.
Before that though, almost everything went India's way right from the toss. The grass on the pitch made it hard and aided strokeplay, making Kohli's decision to bat first an obvious one. Vijay set the tone early with three boundaries in the first two overs, including a gorgeous straight drive off Lahiru Gamage.
An early switch to Dilruwan Perera's off-spin accounted for Dhawan when he attempted to sweep, only managing a top edge to deep square-leg where Suranga Lakmal held on awkwardly despite losing his balance and a shoe.
Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, who had tormented Sri Lanka with a massive stand in Nagpur, looked to settle in when a smart piece of captaincy from Dinesh Chandimal gave Sri Lanka the breakthrough. Chandimal had Gamage bowling with a leg-slip and Pujara promptly clipped one off his pads straight to that man, falling right into the trap.
That would turn out to be Sri Lanka's last moment of joy for nearly two more sessions, as Kohli took off from where he had left in Nagpur. The Indian captain flicked and drove to the boundary, even as Vijay completed his half-century with a bit of good fortune in the form of overthrows in the last over before lunch.
What followed after the break was a display of effortless batting, led by the Indian captain. He quickly realised that the pitch aided strokeplay and that there was no need of excessive consolidation, especially given his form. Without breaking a sweat, Kohli raced past his half-century off just 52 balls. In the process, he also crossed yet another milestone of 5,000 Test runs.
The key to Kohli's batting was his assured footwork. He took long strides forward to drive through the line and also went deep in his crease to cut and steer. It allowed him to find boundaries everywhere and dominate the spinners, without a single shot in the air.
Quietly at the other end, Vijay was doing his business with precision. The elegant whips and drives were in full flow as the opener collected runs with all the class in the world. His century came with a crunching punch off Sandakan in the penultimate over before tea, which also gave way for some fancy celebrations.
The batsmen switched on their autopilot modes in the third session, by when Sri Lanka was already tired and frustrated. Kohli helped himself to his fastest ton in Test cricket, getting there with a single off his 110th ball.
Vijay batted on past his 150, however, he fell to a sharp stumping by Niroshan Dickwella off Sandakan when he dragged his backfoot slightly with less than five overs left in the day. Rahane, who came into the game with scores of 4, 0 and 2 in the series, fell in a similar fashion in Sandakan's next over as Sri Lanka showed fight for the first time in the day.
