India vs Sri Lanka, 3rd Test Day 1: Live Cricket Score

India, who lead the series 1-0 after their record equalling victory in Nagpur, look to clinch the three-match Test series. Follow live cricket score and updates.

IndiaToday.in  | Posted by Jepher Christopher Nickels
December 2, 2017 | UPDATED 10:19 IST
BCCI PhotoBCCI Photo

Hello and welcome to our coverage of the first day of the third Test between India and Sri Lanka at New Delhi. (Scorecard)

India 1st Innings:

10:17 IST: WICKET! 9.6: D Perera to Dhawan, OUT c Suranga Lakmal b Dilruwan Perera. India have lost their first wicket. India 42/1 vs Sri Lanka

10:13 IST: Matthew Hayden and Murali Karthik on air discuss about Dhawan's improvement as a batsman. They feel that he plays with a lot of authority these days and has a knack of converting his starts into big ones.

10:07 IST: 7.3: D Perera to Dhawan, FOUR! Easy pickings! Short delivery outside off, spinning away. Dhawan eyes light up. He rocks back and cracks it through cover-point to pick up another boundary. 10:05 IST: Spin has been introduced early. Dilruwan Perera to roll his arm over now. He is just one shy of 100 Test wickets. Let's see what kind of purchase he gets from this surface. A slip and a short leg in place. The crowd is making a lot of buzz at the moment.

09:43 IST: 2.1: S Lakmal to Dhawan, FOUR! Fuller in length again, around off and Dhawan drives it towards cover region for his first boundary. Glorious looking shot by Dhawan, he held his pose and the ball raced to the fence.

09:40 IST: 1.3: L Gamage to Vijay, FOUR! Elegance at its best! That is a shot of a man who believes in his abilities and is oozing confidence. Full length ball on middle, not much nibble in the air. Vijay strides forward and just strokes it past his partner for a delightful boundary down the ground. The elegant right-hander held his pose after playing that.

09:40 IST: 1.3: L Gamage to Vijay, FOUR. Elegance at its best! That is a shot of a man who believes in his abilities and is oozing confidence. Full length ball on middle, not much nibble in the air. Vijay strides forward and just strokes it past his partner for a delightful boundary.

09:29 IST: So... The anthems are done and dusted. Play is set to get underway. Out walk the Indian opening batsmen MURALI VIJAY and SHIKHAR DHAWAN. The former is coming off a wonderful hundred while the latter is back in the side after being out for personal reasons.

09:25 IST: India haven't lost a Test at this venue in the last 30 years. This would keep the hosts in good stead. Are the numbers pointing against the away side even here? Maybe, but a game of cricket isn't won on statistics alone. Meanwhile, the players and the umpires line up for the national anthems. It will be Sri Lanka's first followed by India's.

09:13 IST: PITCH REPORT - Russel Arnold says that it's a bit cold and nippy right now but should warm up later. Observes that the track is a bit different than at Kolkata and Nagpur. Sunil Gavaskar agrees and states that the fair covering of grass on the pitch should help seamers initially. The cooler conditions should help the bowlers bowl longer spells, he opines. He goes on to add that the cracks might open up as the match progresses and should help spinners from Days 2 and 3. On being asked by Arnold about the similarities with the Protea conditions, he opines that this is a far cry from the South African conditions as even the quality of the opposition is different. Advises the batters to counter the initial movement and then bat comfortably. Arnold reckons that a score of about 300-350 should make it competitive. Ends saying do the hard work early and reap rewards later.

09:08 IST: TEAMS!

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

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

09:02 IST: TOSS! India elect to bat against Sri Lanka. Shikhar Dhawan and Mohammed Shami replace KL Rahul and Umesh Yadav.

After taking an unassailable 1-0 lead, India will aim to clinch the three-match Test series against Sri Lanka at a typical five-day pitch of the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium today.

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.

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.

The Dinesh Chandimal-led visitors will however look to re-work on their strategies to level series.

In batting, Sri Lanka will rely on experienced campaigners in form of Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella, who have failed to play match winning knocks in the ongoing series to give their side a much required dominating start.

The visiting batsmen are lacking in concentration and patience which are of prime importance in Test cricket. They lack the experience of playing long innings. Without taking the credit away from the Indian bowlers, it is also the case of the Sri Lankan batsmen gifting their wickets away.

Sri Lanka off-spinner Dilruwan Perera who has looked to cause trouble to the Indian batsmen will be the key in the bowling department. Their side will also hope bowlers Suranga Lakmal, Dasun Shanaka, Lahiru Gamage to scalp vital blows.

Squad:

India: Lokesh Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, Shikhar Dhawan.

Sri Lanka: Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal(captain), Niroshan Dickwella (wicket-keeper), Dasun Shanaka, Dilruwan Perera, Jeffrey Vandersay, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Gamage, Dhananjaya de Silva, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Roshen Silva.