Lunch report: Dhawan and Kohli take India into the lead

With the commanding presence of the 16th century Dutch fort in the backdrop, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli buttressed India's presence in the first Test by coasting through the morning session of day two without hassle. From an overnight 128/2, trailing by 55 runs, the pair ate away at the deficit and by lunch at the Galle International Stadium had put India in the lead by 44 runs at 227/2.Seldom have touring Indian sides had it so easy on Sri Lankan soil.
Dhawan breezed to his second consecutive hundred after his comeback 173 in Bangladesh, his Delhi state mate Kohli a watchful partner in a stand of 199.
With the pitch playing easy and Sri Lanka's spinners not extracting significant turn from it, Dhawan and Kohli ticked away at the total without taking undue risks. The first hour produced just 41 runs, with the overnight pair content to leave well enough alone outside off stump and bunt the spinners for singles.
Kohli brought up his fifty in the fourth over of the morning, his first in internationals since he opened India's World Cup campaign with a century against Pakistan in February, but was otherwise subdued during the morning. He added just 13 to his overnight total in the first hour, while Dhawan was more proactive in extending his score to 81 during the same time. Dhawan took 18 deliveries to move from 91 to 98, then reached his fourth Test hundred with another fluently placed cover-drive between the offside fielders for four, off his 178th delivery faced.
With Angelo Mathews off the field, Lahiru Thirimanne took over the captaincy and appeared keener to go ahead with spin. Rangana Herath was given ten consecutive overs to try and snap the burgeoning partnership but could not break the Indian pair, while offspinner Tharindu Kaushal was turned to after 14 overs were bowled, and even he did not offer much threat. Herath and Kaushal stuck to overall tidy lines, but their lack of bite allowed Dhawan and Kohli to play with assurance.
Brief scores: India 227/2 (Shikhar Dhawan 110*, Virat Kohli 86*) lead Sri Lanka 183 (Angelo Mathews 64, Dinesh Chandimal 59, R Ashwin 6/46) by 44 runs
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