Vijay, Kohli run riot over Sri Lanka
India opener shines as captain scores third consecutive century in the series versus hapless visitors on a placid pitch
NEW DELHI: India skipper Virat Kohli (156 no) and opener Murali Vijay (155) struck grand centuries to turn the first day of the final Test against Sri Lanka into a lopsided affair.
Both teams seemed to have given up even before the third Test was into a few overs at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground on Saturday. Sri Lanka, left ragged after India’s innings and 239-run victory in the second Test, didn’t put up even a semblance of a fight at the start.
India were resigned to play on a pitch that had no life to challenge their batsmen ahead of the tough South Africa tour, starting on January 5. And that simply meant they had to focus on the present – tame conditions and a weak opposition.
The result was India batsmen hammering the Sri Lankan attack to finish the day on 371 for four. Kohli and Vijay put on 283 runs for the third wicket.
Chinaman bowler Lakshan Sandakan raised the spirit of the side by having Vijay and the struggling Ajinkya Rahane (1) stumped in the space of four deliveries.
CAPTAIN HOT
Virat Kohli has been pretty much an unstoppable force and Sri Lanka have borne the brunt this year.
The 29-year-old batsman smashed his 20th Test century – third in a row in this series -after becoming the 11th Indian to complete 5,000 runs, delighting a large home crowd that chanted his name. The pitch offered little to the bowlers but Sri Lanka bowled many loose deliveries to make things easier for the hosts.
A 110-ball century, at a strike rate of over 90, saw boundaries flow off the bat without Kohli having to strain, his supreme fitness shining through after a 213 in Nagpur.
Kohli took just 186 deliveries to reach 156, leaving him with a good chance to get to a maiden triple century.
Kohli is the second fastest Indian to 20 centuries (105 innings).
Only Sunil Gavaskar (93) is ahead. Sachin Tendulkar took 107 innings. Overall, Don Bradman (55), Gavaskar, Matthew Hayden (95) and Steve Smith (99) have got to the mark faster.
Vijay completed back-to-back centuries in a quiet fashion, showing exuberance only on reaching 100 with a little jig towards the dressing room. The only other time he created excitement was when he played a reverse-sweep.
BACK WITH A BANG
Vijay is returning after seven months. The 33-year-old showed fine touch to score 128 in Nagpur. The team management seemed to have restored him to the No 1 slot, dropping KL Rahul to include Shikhar Dhawan as the other opener.
He never lost focus despite Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara offering catches on 23, playing loose shots. Dhawan was offspinner Dilruwan Perera’s 100th scalp.
Vijay and Kohli put on India’s third big stand of the series, the opener first playing second fiddle before the skipper took the backseat to let the senior batsman get to his century.
The nature of the Kotla pitch though means India will have to make do with a crash course in tweaking technique before the first Test starts in Cape Town on January 5.