Sri Lanka make steady start
Sri Lanka win toss and bat against India in first of three-Test series.
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| Muttiah Muralitharan received the Lifetime Achievement award before the start of test [Reuters] |
Sri Lanka took a steady start on Sunday against a depleted Indian bowling attack reaching 228-1 at tea on the first day of the first cricket Test.
Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat first at Galle International Stadium after a half hour delay because of a wet ground.
The Sri Lankans strategy appears to be to pile on the runs and then send out their spin bowlers against India.
Murali’s last
The match will be the last for Muttiah Muralitharan, world’s most prolific wicket taker aiming to become the first to take 800 test wickets.
He is eight wickets short of achieving the milestone.
This also marks the return of seam bowler Lasith Malingareturns for Sri Lanka after an absence of two years while India has recalled batsman Yuvraj Singh who was left out for the recent Asia Cup.
Abhmanyu Mithun, a 20-year-old seam bowler, makes his test debut for India after injuries to Zaheer Khan and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.
Teams:
Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Muttiah Muralitharan, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Prasanna Jayawardene (wicket keeper), Lasith Malinga, Rangana Herath, Chanaka Welegedara.
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Abhimanyu Mithun.