India pass 300 aggressively

The first session witnessed a semblance of battle, at least in the first hour, but play post lunch was a one-way street heading India's way. Gautam Gambhir notched up his seventh hundred in nine Tests, Virender Sehwag completed a typically feisty century, Rahul Dravid got into the groove immediately and India went past 300 with a full session left in the day. It wasn't just the runs, it was the manner in which they were compiled. The batsmen seemed to do as they wished: Gambhir punctuated his charges down the wicket with delicate late cuts, Sehwag went either inside-out or carved across the line as his mood seized him, and Dravid pierced the off-side field at will.

The situation was summed up by the sight of Rangana Herath bowling over the stumps and outside leg to the newly arrived Dravid. It said so much about what Sri Lanka were thinking and about how totally India had dominated. Things are likely to get worse for Sri Lanka with the pitch expected to break up in a couple of days.

The most telling statistic was the spinners' figures. All three main spinners struggled, with even Muttiah Muralitharan leaking at over 6 runs per over. Sri Lanka had managed to keep the scoring rate down with the new ball but things went pear-shaped for them after the spinners were introduced, with Sehwag and Gambhir looting 73 runs off nine overs before lunch and little changing after the break. They weren't allowed to settle at all by the openers who lashed out at them with a calculated fury that was breathtaking to watch.

Gambhir went after Herath in his first over, hitting him for three boundaries: He whipped through covers, cut past point and stepped out to loft to the straight boundary. Gambhir had different approaches to the spinners: He stepped out often against Herath, used his crease well against Muralitharan, going either well back or stretching forward, and worked the angles against Ajantha Mendis.

If Gambhir reserved the best of his aggression for Herath, Sehwag went after Mendis in the first session and took care of Muralitharan in the second. There was some edginess initially as Sehwag mistimed the first few deliveries but Mendis couldn't capitalise on it. He floated a full toss, offered a long-hop and slid one down the leg side and Sehwag sent each one to the boundary. The attacking spirit was best seen in the last over before lunch when Sehwag launched an offbreak from Mendis high over long-on. That aggression continued post lunch with Sehwag collecting five boundaries against Muralitharan: Two fierce off drives, an inside-edge, and a tuck to fine-leg boundary which brought up his hundred. He fell to Muralitharan though, against the run of play, trying to play an inside-out cover drive to a length delivery but failing to clear cover.

The brisk, confident scoring through most of the day was possible because the openers showed patience in the first hour against the new ball and laid a good platform. It seemed as though Sehwag was waging a battle against himself initially. He chased his third ball - a wide delivery - and edged it but was dropped when Prasanna Jayawardene dived across and distracted Mahela Jayawardene at first slip. Sehwag then tried to go hard at Angelo Mathews a couple of times and was beaten. It was the make or break moment: he was either going to combust from impatience or would change tack and be more watchful. He chose the latter route and started to play defensively with the full face of the bat and as close to the body as possible.

It has to be said, though, that the seamers did their best to tempt him into indiscretion. They kept the ball full and outside off, inviting Sehwag to drive, but he resisted after the initial nervy period. That his first boundary came only off the 27th delivery he faced said much about his mindset. Welegedera occasionally got the ball to nip back in and even had a plausible shout for lbw turned down, but couldn't break through.

Gambhir was the more assured of the openers against the new ball. He was dismissed playing away from the body against Welegedera in the last Test and took care to play close to his body today. He scored quite a few runs in the third-man region but the slow pitch was always going to throw up that kind of a wagon wheel.

The presence of three spinners and just one frontline seamer was always going to pose problems for Sri Lanka after they lost the toss. And the early results are there for all to see.