Padikkal made 117, and India closed Day 1 in Colombo at 300 for 5
He was dropped twice before he had 2. Pant went off hurt. A debutant allrounder was unbeaten with Jurel at stumps.
Devdutt Padikkal made 117, and India finished the first day of the second Test in Colombo at 300 for 5.
The match is at the Sinhalese Sports Club, 23 to 27 August. Shubman Gill won the toss and batted. ESPNcricinfo's report had India 300 for 5 after 85 overs. Padikkal's hundred was his second in as many Tests. He was dropped on 0, a low slice to point, and on 1, a cut that flew past slip. Sri Lanka will live with both.
He put on 120 with Gill, who made 50, and 74 with Ravindra Jadeja. Yashasvi Jaiswal made 45. KL Rahul edged a waft. Asitha Fernando was the pick of the bowlers, 3 for 46. Lahiru Kumara and Keshara Nuwantha took one each.
The day had two injuries. Kumara hit Rishabh Pant on the forearm with a short ball and Pant went off. Another short ball hit Jadeja on the same arm. Jadeja batted on, cramped, took treatment twice, then left an inswinger from Asitha that clipped the top of off. Padikkal was bowled by Nuwantha, defending down the wrong line, just as the innings was settling again.
At stumps Dhruv Jurel was 7 not out and debutant Saransh Jain was 4 not out. Jain came in for Kuldeep Yadav. Pant is expected to bat on day two. The surface is newly relaid. The local reading is that it will bat well for two or three days, then take more spin as it dries.
India won the first Test in Galle by 165 runs. A win here is 12 World Test Championship points.
Padikkal is no longer a Galle story. Two hundreds in two Tests, both after early lives, is how a number three stops being an experiment.
Three hundred for 5 is only a start. Five wickets, a hurt wicketkeeper-batter, and a debutant at the close mean Sri Lanka are still in the first innings. Asitha showed that. Soft dismissals from Rahul and Gill showed it too. Colombo is not Galle. The points table does not care. India are still fifth on percentage. A draw here is a wasted bag of 12.
Day two starts at 10am. The first hour decides whether 300 for 5 becomes 450, or whether Asitha and the spinners get through Jurel, Jain and a returning Pant before the lead is safe.