Rahul Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit centuries as India brushed aside a stunning start by Sri Lanka's new-look pace attack in the first Test here on Monday. Left-arm seamer Chanaka Welegedara grabbed three wickets in his first four overs and Dammika Prasad took one to reduce India to 32-4 within the first hour of play.
Dravid smashed an unbeaten 177, his 27th Test century, and Dhoni made 110 as India turned the tables on the hapless tourists to reach 385-6 by stumps in an enthralling start to the three-match series.
Dravid, nicknamed the "Wall" for his technically solid batting, hit 26 boundaries and a six in an unusually aggressive innings that saw him complete 11,000 Test runs with his final single of the day. When he had reached 105, Dravid surpassed retired former Australian captain Steve Waugh's tally of 10,927 runs to become the fifth highest Test scorer behind Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting and Allan Border.
Skipper Dhoni played the supporting role during a sixth-wicket stand of 224 after left-hander Yuvraj Singh (68) had begun the rescue act by adding 125 for the fifth wicket with Dravid. Dhoni fell to the second new ball shortly before close, caught behind off Prasad, leaving Harbhajan Singh to keep Dravid company at stumps on two.
"When we lost quick wickets, the idea was to just hang in there and try and build the innings," said Dravid. "This is one of my most fluent innings in the last two-three years. My feet were moving well and I felt I was in control. Yuvraj set the momentum and Dhoni helped me build on that.
Welegedara, playing only his second Test, gave away just 28 runs in his opening spell of seven overs, but finished the day at an expensive 3-75 in 17 overs. "There was a bit of moisture in the morning which helped me swing the ball," said Welegedara, 28, who was coached at former Australian great Dennis Lillee's training school in Chennai.
Some 10,000 home fans at the Motera stadium, who had hoped to see Tendulkar celebrate the start of his third decade in Test cricket with a bang, were stunned to see wickets fall in a heap at the start.
Tendulkar, the world's leading Test and one-day batsman, smashed the first ball he faced to the cover fence, but fell two deliveries later when he was bowled by a jubilant Welegedara. Welegedara and Prasad, who had just four Test appearances between them, justified their selection ahead of the more experienced duo of Nuwan Kulasekera and Thilan Thushara.
Few expected the havoc to follow after Dhoni won the toss and promptly elected to bat on a hard, brown wicket that appeared full of runs. Welegedara, working up a tidy pace, bowled Gautam Gambhir in his second over and trapped Virender Sehwag leg-before in his fourth to reduce India to 27-2.
Tendulkar followed Sehwag in the same over, before Prasad uprooted Venkatsai Laxman's off-stump six balls later to increase India's woes. Dravid and Yuvraj lifted the total to 105 by lunch and then took the attack to the Sri Lankans in a spectacular counter-attack when play resumed.
SCOREBOARD:
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India 1st innings:
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G. Gambhir b Welegedara 1
V. Sehwag lbw b Welegedara 16
R. Dravid not out 177
S. Tendulkar b Welegedara 4
V. Laxman b Prasad 0
Y. Singh c Dilshan b Muralitharan 68
M. Dhoni c P. Jayawardene b Prasad 110
H. Singh not out 2
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Extras: (b2, lb2, nb2, w1) 7
Total: (for 6 wkts, 90 overs) 385
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To bat: Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma.
Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Gambhir), 2-27 (Sehwag), 3-31 (Tendulkar), 4-32 (Laxman), 5-157 (Yuvraj), 6-381 (Dhoni).
Bowling: Welegedara 17-3-75-3 (w1), Prasad 18-1-90-2 (nb1), Mathews 12-1-50-0, Muralitharan 23-3-90-1 (nb1), Herath 19-1-73-0, Dilshan 1-0-3-0.
Toss: India
Umpires: Tony Hill (NZL) and Daryl Harper (AUS)
TV umpire: Amish Saheba (IND)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL).
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