India had a dominating outing on Day 1 of the Mohali Test as they reached 357/6 at stumps after Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat earlier in the morning. In his 100th Test match, Virat Kohli was undone by left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya for 45. Then Rishabh Pant who cheered up the 6,000-strong crowd at the ground with a swashbuckling 95-ball 96.
The game was in the balance at tea, with Sri Lanka perhaps holding even a bit of an upper hand. The score read 228/5 when Shreyas Iyer fell, but then Pant exploded to take the game away from them. He found support from Ravindra Jadeja (45*). Pant missed out on a hundred ton by four runs, but his innings stamped India's authority in the match on a turning track.
A first-innings score of around 400 will be competitive on this pitch. Both Jadeja and R. Ashwin are capable of adding more runs down the order, as is Jayant Yadav. However, Sri Lanka are not out of this yet if they can keep India to below 400 and bat well to put the pressure back on India.
The wicket is taking turn, and India have three quality spinners to exploit the conditions. On Day 1, there was also some reverse swing for the Sri Lankan pacers, which will encourage Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah.
Fantasy tips:
- Expect India to score around 450 runs in the first innings.
- Along with Indian spin trio, back the seamers to get some wickets on this pitch on Day 2.
- A lot will depend on the top three Sri Lankan batters. Back them to play out the initial spell of Bumrah and Shami before they gear up to face the spin test.