Ashwin grabs six as India bundle out Sri Lanka for 183 on day 1
India’s premiere spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin lived up to his reputation by claiming six wickets on day 1 of the 1st test between India and Sri Lanka. Ashwin, playing a Test match on Sri Lankan soil for the first time, finished with six for 46 as the home team were bowled out in 49.4 overs after they won the toss and elected to bat.
Apaer from the toss, the first day panned out exactly in the manner that skipper Kohli might have wanted it to be. The pairing of Ishant and Aaron getting a wicket each at the top followed by some spin magic of Ashwin and Amit Mishra (who made a comeback into test cricket after 4 years) who narrowly missed a hat trick. Captain Kohli had gone in with a combination of 3 spinners and 2 seam bowlers for the first test.
At stumps, India looked in command as they reached 128 for two after opener KL Rahul (7) and Rohit Sharma (9) were dismissed cheaply.
Shikhar Dhawan seemed to continue from where he left off in Bangladesh as he stroked his way to an unbeaten 53 while skipper Virat Kohli looked supremely confident during his undefeated knock of 45.
Earlier, Mathews (64) was the top-scorer for Sri Lanka while wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal contributed 59 after the hosts’ decision to bat in the first match of the three-test series backfired. Retiring batting stalwart Kumar Sangakkara did not last long either in his penultimate test and fell to Ashwin’s third delivery of the morning.
