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Colombo: Sri Lanka blazed to a strong start against a largely ineffective Indian bowling attack as they reached 91 for one at lunch on the opening day of the first of the three-match Test series in Galle on Sunday.
Captain Kumar Sangakkara and Tharanga Paranavitana were batting on 25 and 35 respectively at the lunch interval after Sri Lanka elected to bat at the Galle International Stadium.
Fielding one of the weakest bowling attacks in a long time, luck also did not favour India as visiting captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni lost the toss after the start of the match was delayed for 30 minutes due to wet outfield.
With strike bowler Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth not available due to injuries, young Abhimanyu Mithun earned debut and shared the new ball with Ishant Sharma in the swansong match of veteran Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.
Straightaway, the Sri Lankans stamped their authority, with openers Tharanga Paranavitana and Tillakaratne Dilshan off to a quick start, reaching 50 in the ninth over, as if to compensate for the lost time.
The Sri Lankan duo targeted Ishant, who bled 41 runs in his five overs in the morning, as Paranavitana struck him for a four in the first ball of the innings and then repeated it with another boundary in the opening over.
Ishant was again punished for another couple of fours in his second over by Paranavitana. Dilshan also joined the party with five fours off Ishant in two overs before he was taken off.
Mithun made an impressive start in his debut Test conceding 31 runs from his eight overs in the opening session and also giving the breakthrough with the wicket of dangerous Dilshan, his maiden Test scalp.
The young India pacer could have got Dilshan early but his confident LBW appeal was turn down by the umpire though TV replays showed the ball would have hit the stumps.
After Ishant was carted all over the park by the Sri Lankan openers, Dhoni made a superb decision to change ends for Mithun after Harbhajan Singh was introduced in the 10th over.
The 20-year-old rookie Karnataka pacer immediately gave the breakthrough for India as he dismissed Dilshan (25) bowling from the Fort End.
Dilshan tried to play a hook shot off a short-pitched delivery which only found his gloves and Dhoni did the rest behind the stumps. Dilshan's 25 came from 24 balls and was studded with six fours.
Captain Kumar Sangakkara ensured that Sri Lanka does not lose any more wicket before the lunch break and gave his side the platform to accelerate in the remaining two sessions.
