New Delhi: Murali Vijay and Virat Kohli mauled Sri Lanka on Day 1 of the third and final Test match in Delhi. At Stumps, India were 371/4 with skipper Kohli unbeaten on 156 and Rohit Sharma on 6. Vijay, who scored back-to-back hundreds, departed four overs before the end of day's play at Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on Saturday.


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India won the toss for the first time in the series, and Kohli opted to bat first. But India lost opener Shikhar Dhawan in the tenth over and run-machine Cheteshwar Pujar in the 21st over. The arrival of Kohli in the middle, however, changed the course of the innings as the skipper and Vijay stitched a 283-run third-wicket stand.


In the process, Kohli brought up his 20th Test hundred and became the fourth fastest Indian batsman to reach the landmark of 5,000 runs. Playing in his 63rd Test, the 29-year-old also became the 11th Indian batsman to achieve the milestone, when he reached 25 during India`s first innings.


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He is also the second youngest to reach the 5,000-run mark among Indian batsmen at 29 years and 27 days. Tendulkar tops the list among Indians at 25 years and 301 days.


But it was Vijay, who set the pace for India on the first day. The Tamil Nadu opener notched up his 11th Test century in the 56th over, and indulged himself in an Antonie Griezmann-style celebration with Kohli giving him company to the amusement of everyone.


However, the visitors ended the day with a flourish, taking two wickets – those of Vijay (155) and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (1). Both the batsmen perished in similar fashions, stumped by a brilliant Niroshan Dickwella off the bowling of chinaman bowler Lakshan Sandakan, in the 86th and 88th overs respectively.


For Lanka, Sandakan was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2 for 110 from 23 overs. Lahiru Gamage and Dilruwan Perera took a wicket each, those of Pujara and Dhawan respectively. But the failure of pacer Suranga Lakmal, who had impressed in the previous two Test matches, compounded Dinesh Chandimal's worries.


Lanka, trying to avoid the ignominy of becoming the first ever side never to have won a single Test in another country after 20 matches.


Also read: India not losing sleep over Ajinkya Rahane's form dip


But the day belonged to two Indian batsmen – Vijay and Kohli. Both of them were instrumental in India's record-equalling win in Nagpur, and again showed their class. Vijay hit 13 fours in his 267-ball innings, while Kohli has so far hit 16 fours en route to his fastest Test fifty, off 52 balls.


Then again, it was lost opportunity for Dhawan, Pujara, and of course Rahane – who's struggling for runs in this series.


At the Toss, Chandimal rightly assessed the track, saying that the Kotla pitch will be a batting paradise. He, in fact, questioned India's claims of preparing pacer-friendly pitches on the eve of the match. Before the start of the series, Kohli demanded green tops considering the limited time at hand before embarking on the tour of South Africa, which will start just after the Lanka series.


Left-handed Dhawan started with a cover drive and hit three more boundaries before he top-edged a sweep shot off Perera to be caught at deep backward square leg by Lakmal, who lost his footwear in the process. This was Dilruwan's 100th Test wicket.


Pujara was, however, as watchful as he had been all these years before unleashing his range of strokes with the visiting team's bowling attack looking sub-standard.


However, he fell into a trap when Chandimal deployed a leg slip for Pujara and Gamage fired one into his body. Pujara tried to whip it off his hips but Sadeera Samarawickrama was positioned exactly for that catch.


Towards the close of play, a tired Vijay became Sandakan's first victim. The Indian opener was beaten by a wrong'un from around the wicket, and wicketkeeper Dickwella produced a clinical work behind the wicket. It was followed by Rahane's wicket, with Sandakan pitching the flighted delivery wide of off, and drawing the Indian batsman out. With back foot dragged out, Dickwella did the rest.