Live Cricket Score, India vs Sri Lanka, 3rd Test, Day 1: Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli Take India Forward vs Sri Lanka

Murali Vijay hit a half century and Sri Lankan spinner Dilruwan Perera claimed his 100th Test scalp as India reached 116 for two at lunch on the opening day of the third Test in New Delhi on Saturday. The opener was unbeaten on 51 with India skipper Virat Kohli on 17. Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan, who returned to the team in place of Lokesh Rahul, gave India a quick start at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium. But the early introduction of spin put the brake on the rush, as Perera struck in his second over to send Dhawan packing for 23 after the left-handed opener top-edged a sweep to deep-midwicket. Off-spinner Perera became the fastest Sri Lankan to 100 wickets in his 25th Test. Spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan reached the landmark in 27 matches. (Live Scorecard)

Cheteshwar Pujara was the second man out, caught at leg slip for 23 after flicking a sliding delivery from paceman Lahiru Gamage. He made 23. Vijay, who hit a century during India's thrashing of Sri Lanka in the previous Test in Nagpur, remained solid at the crease. He reached his 16th Test fifty with a boundary off fast bowler Suranga Lakmal, and had smashed seven fours in his 67-ball stand up to lunch. India lead the three-match series 1-0 and need only a draw for a record-equalling ninth successive Test series triumph. England and Australia are the other sides to have achieved the feat.

Catch live score and updates of the 3rd Test, Day 1 between India and Sri Lanka straight from Delhi

12:54 IST: FOUR! Virat Kohli stays back and pulls the ball towards deep mid wicket for a boundary. India 164/2 in 36.5 overs.

12:52 IST: FIFTY! Virat Kohli brings up his 15th half-century. India 160/2 in 36.3 overs.

Virat Kohli brings up his 50 off 52 balls #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/5yqklgYpZG

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 2, 2017

12:51 IST: FOUR! Superb shot! Virat Kohli drives the ball through covers.

12:42 IST: FOUR! Virat Kohli waits till the end, opens the face of the bat and cuts the ball towards third man for a boundary. India 148/2 in 33.5 overs.

12:41 IST: FOUR! Virat Kohli sends Dilruwan Perera towards sweeper cover for a boundary. The Indian skipper moves to 37 with this boundary.

12:34 IST: FOUR! Virat Kohli comes a bit forward, picks the length and smashes the ball towards long-on for a boundary. 

12:30 IST: 5000 Test runs for Virat Kohli. He achieves the feat in 105 innings.

5000 and counting... #KingKohli @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/Mn2uRCzad7

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 2, 2017

12:26 IST: FOUR! Virat Kohli hits this so well. The Indian skipper stays back and smashes the ball towards sweeper cover for a boundary. India 130/2 in 30.1 overs.

12:19 IST: FOUR! Elegant! Murali Vijay sends Suranga Lakmal towards deep mid wicket for a boundary. Brilliant start from the man in form.

12:15 IST: Hello and welcome back! Second session gets underway.

11:35 IST: That's LUNCH at Feroz Shah Kotla.

India 116/2 in 27 overs

Murali Vijay 51*

Virat Kohli 17*

At Lunch on Day 1 of the 3rd Test, India are 116/2 in 27 overs.

Updates - https://t.co/OKFOpkiBg9 #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/aZQhnz7b4I

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 2, 2017

11:32 IST: FIFTY! Murali Vijay brings up his 16th half-century. India 116/2 in 26.2 overs. 5 runs in one ball. Vijay takes a single but an overthrow by a Sri Lankan bowler gives 4 more runs in Vijay's kitty.

11:30 IST: FOUR! Cracking shot from captain Kohli. Too full and too wide from Sandakan. The Indian skipper drives the ball past cover for boundary. India 111/2 in 26.1 overs.

11:22 IST: FOUR! Virat Kohli sends Lakshan Sandakan towards deep mid-wicket for a boundary. India 104/2 in 24 overs.

11:18 IST: FOUR! Murali Vijay plays this beautifully towards deep mid-wicket for a boundary. Vijay moves to 43 runs. India 95/2 in 23 overs.

11:15 IST: FOUR! Length ball from Lahiru Gamage. Murali Vijay sends the Sri Lankan towards sweeper cover for a boundary. India 91/2 in 22.2 overs.

11:11 IST: FOUR! Virat Kohli sends Gamage towards deep mid-wicket for a boundary. India 82/2 in 21 overs.

11:10 IST: Crowd go bonkers as the homeboy Virat Kohli walks in.

11:07 IST: WICKET! Lahiru Gamage removes Cheteshwar Pujara for 23 runs. India 78/2 in 20.2 overs.

11:01 IST: FOUR! Powerful shot from Pujara. The right-hander stays back and slaps the ball towards long-off region for a boundary.

10:58 IST: FOUR! Cheteshwar Pujara picks the ball nicely and sends it towards long-off region for a boundary. India 71/1 in 18.5 overs.

10:55 IST: FOUR! Cheteshwar Pujara sends Dilruwan Perera towards deep square leg for another boundary. India 66/1 in 18 overs.

10:53 IST: FOUR! Cheteshwar Pujara sends Dilruwan Perera toward backward square leg for a boundary. Great placement from the right-hander.

10:32 IST: 50 comes up for India in 12.4 overs vs Sri Lanka.

10:25 IST: FOUR! Flighted delivery from Perera. Vijay picks the ball nicely and sends it towards long-on for a boundary.

10:23 IST: Cheteshwar Pujara is the new man at the crease.

10:18 IST: WICKET! Dilruwan Perera strikes, Shikhar Dhawan departs for 23 runs. Perera claims his 100th Test scalp. Dhawan tries to play a sweep, gets a top edge and gives catch to Lakmal at backward square leg. India 42/1 in 10 overs.

10:15 IST: FOUR! Dhawan plays this beautifully towards third man. The openers have set the tone for India. Excellent batting by Dhawan and Vijay this morning.

10:08 IST: FOUR! Shikhar Dhawan sends Dilruwan Perera towards square of the wicket for a boundary. India 35/0 in 7.4 overs.

10:07 IST: Spin has been introduced by Sri Lanka captain.

10:03 IST: FOUR! Murali Vijay plays this with a soft bottom hand. The opener guides the ball towards third man for a boundary. India 28/0 in 6.4 overs.

09:59 IST: FOUR! Dhawan opens the face of the bat and sends the ball towards sweeper cover region for a boundary. India 22/0 in 5.4 overs.

09:55 IST: Dhawan sends Lakmal towards mid-on for a quick single. He will keep the strike. India 18/0 in 5 overs.

09:50 IST: Maiden over from Lahiru Gamage. India 17/0 in 4 overs.

09:44 IST: FOUR! Shikhar Dhawan comes a bit forward and sends Suranga Lakmal towards sweeper cover region for a boundary.

09:41 IST: FOUR! Murali Vijay plays this with straight bat. It was a gentle push straight down the ground. India 13/0 in 1.4 overs.

09:37 IST: FOUR! Vijay sends Lakmal towards fine leg this time. Back-to-back boundaries for the right-hander. India 8/0 in 0.5 over.

09:36 IST: FOUR! First boundary of the match. Murali Vijay uses the pace, opens the face of the bat and cuts the ball towards backward point for a boundary.

09:34 IST: Suranga Lakmal will open the attack for Sri Lanka. Here we go......

09:32 IST: India openers Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan are making their way to the middle. Sri Lanka team are in a huddle.

09:30 IST: Players are out for national anthems.

09:22 IST: Coach Ravi Shastri is giving pep talk to the team ahead of the third Test at Feroz Shah Kotla.

All set! #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/iHbqNTU07o

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 2, 2017

09:08 IST: Playing XIs:

Sri Lanka: Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal (captain), Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Roshen Silva, Dilruwan Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Lakshan Sandakan, Lahiru Gamage

#TeamIndia Playing XI for the 3rd Test #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/h6TsLnXC5z

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 2, 2017

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma

09:05 IST: Two changes for India:

Mohammed Shami and Shikhar Dhawan in.

Umesh Yadav and KL Rahul out.

Three changes for Sri Lanka:

Lakshan Sandakan, Roshen Silva and Dhananjaya De Silva in.

Thirimanne, Shanaka and Herath out.

09:03 IST: TOSS: India captain Virat Kohli wins toss, opts to bat against Sri Lanka at Feroz Shah Kotla.

Captain @imVkohli wins the toss and elects to bat first in the 3rd and final Test against Sri Lanka #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/OvQh9fTPxO

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 2, 2017

08:40 IST: The ongoing Test series initiated with India, Sri Lanka registering a draw in the rain-marred first match. Later, in the second game, the hosts thumped visitors to clinch victory by a mammoth innings and 239 runs.

With a 1-0 series lead #TeamIndia is here in Delhi for the third and final Test against Sri Lanka #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/mmK5PtaIPD

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 1, 2017

08:38 IST: It will be interesting to see whether captain Kohli returns to his old composition of fielding five batsmen, five bowlers and a wicket-keeper. He had fielded four bowlers in the Nagpur Test and all of them delivered.

08:37 IST: The Kotla wicket might offer a traditional display of Test cricket with the pitch sustaining the wear and tear over the five days.

08:36 IST: India will also eye on equalling a record of most consecutive Test series wins. Currently they are on a eight-series winning streak and a win or a draw in Kotla will pull them level to the record which is jointly shared by Australia and England.

08:35 IST: After taking an unassailable 1-0 lead, India will aim to clinch the three-match Test series against Sri Lanka.

08:30 IST: Hello and welcome to the Live coverage from the opening day of the third Test between India and Sri Lanka at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi.

The year 2018, starting with three Tests against South Africa followed by the two marquee away series -- five matches against England and four against Australia at the back-end of the year -- will define Kohli's character as a leader and also his ability of his team. Therefore, it will be a good chance for the likes of Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravichandran Ashwin to rack up some more enviable numbers which will do a world of good to their confidence. Facing a Sri Lankan side, which has been nothing short of an embarrassment, is not the greatest of challenges but for world's No 1 Test side, it will be an opportunity to get some much required match practice, which they unfortunately won't get in South Africa save a two-day game.