Srilanka - 85/2 Vs India (Idea Cup)

.

Though poor light called off the first day's play but India had a good outing in the field against Sri Lanka in the first Test in Colombo.

Sri Lanka were 85/2 at stumps with the help of Malinda Warnapura's unbeaten half-century. Mahela Jayawardene was batting on 16 runs when bad light put a halt to play 40 minutes before the scheduled time.

Put in to field first, India struck early and picked two Sri Lankan wickets. Ishant Sharma in his second over had picked opener MG Vandort for just three runs. Wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik took an impressive catch to guide him to the pavilion.Left-arm bowler Zaheer Khan exploited the conditions well and dismissed Kumar Sangakkara for 12 runs as Rahul Dravid caught him at the first slip.

Due to a delay of five hours caused by rain and wet conditions, the play was extended by an hour and at least 42 overs were to be played but dark conditions allowed just 22 overs. The game will now start 30 minutes early in the next few days.

Sri Lanka: Michael Vandort, Malinda Warnapura, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Thilan Samaraweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Kulasekera, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis.

India: Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma.

It's got a bit dark here at the SSC, Colombo. The umpires have had a look at the reading on the light meter. The light has been offered and the Sri Lankans have accepted it. A hold up in play now. Don't really see the light improving now, it has been overcast right throughout the day, one won't be surprised if this is the end of the day.

There you have it, it's official now. Play has been called off, so it's Stumps on Day 1.

.

This has been a truncated day of cricket where rain and bad light took centrestage more than anything else. We lost 4 hours and 15 minutes of cricket thanks to the wet conditions.

Finally, we got some play after Mahela decided to bat first on a dry surface. This has been a good session for the Indians after they picked up the vital wicket of Sangakkara. Warnapura and Mahela are looking good and they would love to get good scores under their belt right at the start of the series.

We'll find all that out when we come half an hour before the actual start time tomorrow to make up for the lost overs. Do join us then. Till then from all of us here Good Night....