Opener Lokesh Rahul's hundred combined with fluent half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma helped India recover from a shaky start to post 319 for six at stumps on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo, on Thursday.
Rahul, who was dropped on 11, hit 108 and was involved in a 164-run stand for the third wicket with captain Kohli, who struck 78.
Batting at No. 5, Rohit got back among the runs to hit three sixes and five boundaries in a good innings of 79 before being dismissed by Angelo Mathews in the final over of the day.
Rajneesh Gupta presents interesting numbers from Day 1:
4
Number of times a team ended the day one at P Sara Oval with 300 or more runs on the board. The last such instance was in 2006 when South Africa posted 361.
80.87
Virat Kohli’s batting average as captain. Only Don Bradman (101.51) averages more among all players who have led their respective sides in five or more Tests.
79
Rohit Sharma’s score -- his highest in any international match on Sri Lankan soil across different formats (Tests/ODIs/ T20Is). This is his 30th international game in Sri Lanka.
2
Number of Indian openers to score two hundreds in first five innings outside India. Lokesh Rahul joined Rahul Dravid in doing so.
182
Number of wickets taken by Rangana Herath in Sri Lanka- second most after Muttiah Muralitharan. He went ahead of Chaminda Vaas who had 180 scalps at home.
0
Number of left-handed batsmen in the Indian playing eleven. The last time India played a Test without a left-handed batsman was in December 2010 against South Africa at Durban.
164
Runs added by Kohli and Rahul for the third wicket -- India’s highest partnership for any wicket at the P Sara Oval in Colombo.
