India lose openers after making brisk start, reach 109 for 2 at lunch against Sri Lanka

Rohit (29 off 28 balls) and Agarwal (33 off 49 balls) had a half-century stand inside 10 overs but then couldn't capitalise on the start.

Mohali:Skipper Rohit Sharma fell to the pull shot once against while Mayank Agarwal was deceived by an arm ball as India lost both its opener after a quick start, reaching 109 for 2 at lunch on the opening day of the first Test against Sri Lanka here.

Rohit (29 off 28 balls) and Agarwal (33 off 49 balls) had a half-century stand inside 10 overs but then couldn't capitalise on the start.

However, India maintained a scoring rate of more than four runs per over during the session largely due to the 15 boundaries hit during the morning.

Hanuma Vihari (30 batting), who replaced Cheteshwar Pujara as India's new number three, looked solid but the stand-out shot came from the 'Man of the Moment' Virat Kohli (15 batting), who got a warm ovation from a sizeable crowd.

His straight drive off left-arm seamer Vishwa Fernando was perfect to the last inch and a work of art on the PCA Stadium turf.

He walked in at 11 am exactly after the fall of Agarwal's wicket and next half an hour looked as solid as he has ever been.

For Sri Lanka, pacer Lahiru Kumara (6-1-29-1) and left-arm spinner Lasith Embduldeniya (7-0-19-1) got a wicket apiece after Rohit and Agarwal sent the islanders on a leather hunt initially.

Rohit first clipped Suranga Lakmal, playing his final series, towards mid-wicket boundary and then also played his signature short-arm pull off Kumara towards deep mid-wicket.

However, Kumara again dug one short, which was pulled but found the fielder at deep fine leg, having already hit six boundaries.

Agarwal, at the other end, did get a few boundaries but they were streaky ones before Embuldeniya trapped him on the front-leg after beating the bat.

Embuldeniya, who has risen up the ranks, got the ball to turn and keep low in the first session itself which will certainly be a pleasing sight for Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

PTI