Lunch report: Kohli, Rahul revive India after early wobble

In a session when the sun continued to play hide and seek, Virat Kohli and Lokesh Rahul injected some substance to the Indian innings after the first two wickets had gone down for not much on the board. By the time lunch was taken on the opening day of the second Test in Colombo, from 12 for 2, India had moved to 97 for 2, with Kohli (48*) and Rahul (39*) putting on 85 for the third wicket.
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As soon as the sky cleared after a brief spell of rain and Kumar Sangakkara walked out to a guard of honour, Dhammika Prasad operated on a testing line and length - first spell reading 2 for 18 from five overs - and made his skipper Angelo Mathews' prediction of some early movement in the first session come true. The movement of the ball, both on and off the surface, made life difficult for the visitors in the first hour of play, where they'd lost returning opener Murali Vijay for nought and promoted batsman Ajinkya Rahane for 4.
Match Scorecard
Vijay's dismissal was similar to his partner Rahul's in the first innings of Galle Test. The Tamil Nadu batsman had faced just three deliveries before he came forward, only to find the ball, pitching just outside off to seam back in and rapping him on his pads. As Rahane walked out ahead of Rohit Sharma at No.3, India were hopeful of a stable second-wicket stand, but a woeful shot away from the body, almost played at the fifth stump line found the edge of Rahane's bat and was pouched comfortably by Dimuth Karunaratne at third slip. It once again proved that the team management's move of shuffling the batsmen at different positions is something they need to pay attention to.
Rahul overcame the early movement to find his feet properly. Dushmantha Chameera, coming in for the injured Nuwan Pradeep offered Rahul some gifts, often bowling at the batsman's pads to help him accumulate runs at ease. An audacious shot off Chameera saw Rahul dropped by Jehan Mubarak at gully for 11, but other than that, there were no half-chances. A straight drive off Chameera signalled Rahul's intent, and from there, his confidence only grew.
Much like Rahul, Kohli too was aided by some loose bowling from the Lankan medium-pacers. He was initially kept quiet for first five overs, but his first two boundaries, coming off successive deliveries, settled some nerves. He tucked a single behind square to bring up India's fifty and followed it with a short-arm pull for four off the next.
Mathews introduced Sri Lanka's Man of the Match from the previous game, Rangana Herath in the 15th over and he almost delivered immediately. Rahul danced down the track and drilled it back to him, but the force at which it was hit was too hard and the ball ricocheted off the left-armer's boot. The Indian batsmen showed a much better approach towards Herath than they did six days back. Both batsmen used their feet in an attempt to not let him fix a particular line. In his third over, Kohli launched Herath for a massive six as the batsmen safely negotiated the remaining seven overs of the morning session.
Brief Scores: India 97 for 2 (Virat Kohli 48*, KL Rahul 39*; Dhammika Prasad 2/29)
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