Indian Openers turn the tables around
1st Test: India vs Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, Nov 16 - 20, 2017, Cricket highlights
The day that began with Sri Lanka on the top, ended with India getting slightly ahead of the visitors. After conceding a lead of 122 runs, the Indian openers came out to bat with a positive intent, as they quickly wiped out the deficit and pushed their team into a lead. While KL Rahul was the aggressor during the start of the innings, Shikhar Dhawan overtook his partner in the latter part of their 166-run partnership as he scored a brisk 94 off just 116 balls. He missed out on a well-deserved hundred, but the kind of innings he played took the match away from the Sri Lankans.
Also with the pitch wearing out, there was not much assistance either for the fast bowlers or the spinners. Dinesh Chandimal tried all his bowling options, but none of them was effective. They also missed Suranga Lakmal with the new ball, who was out of the attack because of a slight niggle. The medium pace Sri Lankan bowling attack didn’t trouble the Indian openers much and when the spinners came on, both Rahul and Dhawan batted aggressively, which didn't allow them to settle down. Dhawan, especially, took the attack to Rangana Herath as he made good use of his feet to smash the left-arm spinner for a couple of huge hits. He also played the sweep shot really well and didn’t miss out on any boundary scoring opportunities. Sri Lanka also used up both their reviews in order to get Dhawan out, but were unsuccessful on each occasion.
Dhawan’s partner, KL Rahul, looked in fluent touch for the first 40 runs he scored. But as his innings progressed, he looked a bit dodgy and in the process, played and missed a few deliveries. However, he didn’t throw his wicket away and at Stumps, remained unbeaten on 71.
India, because of that huge opening partnership, have been able to take a slender lead of 49 runs. But the important thing is that they have lost just one wicket.
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