Close: India 163 for 5 (S Ganguly 10*, S Dighe 2*) It wasn't a pretty first day. India only managed 163 runs in 85 overs. Whichever way you look at it, that's abysmal. Contrast that to the first day of the Ashes series, when Australia and England put 427 runs on the board for the loss of 12 wickets and you might understand why the game is crying out for the Aussie approach to be adopted by every team.

Sanath Jayasuriya won the toss on a slightly overcast morning and his eyes were shining as he announced his intention to unleash his four-man pace battery on the inexperienced Indian batting line-up. To be fair to the Sri Lankan captain, there was more than a hint of green on the pitch. Twenty overs, a rain delay and a few snores later, the players took lunch, with India having made 16 runs. The openers, Sadagopan Ramesh and Shiv Sunder Das, were so obsessed with stonewalling that they presumably forgot that the bat could be used as an offensive weapon.

Things went from comatose to semi-conscious after lunch. Ramesh wisely decided that his strengths lie more in playing his strokes than in aiming airy swishes at deliveries wide outside the off stump, and two magnificently timed strokes through the on side duly followed. The infuriating thing about Ramesh is his uncanny knack of gift-wrapping his wicket and delivering it to the opposition just when he has them rocking. Today, it was Murali who was the recipient. Ramesh had made 42 when he drove a well-flighted delivery - with no attempt at any footwork - straight to Jayasuriya at cover (79 for 1).

Das laboured his way through to tea but a lengthy rain delay after the interval threw him off balance. He failed to get his bat out of the way of a Vaas delivery and a gleeful Jayasuriya pouched the catch at second slip. India's Stonewall Jackson was on his way for 40 (105 for 2).

Rahul Dravid essayed the shot of the day, a superb cover-drive, and was then granted a stay of execution when a checked cover drive off Dilhara Fernando was grassed by Suresh Perera at short mid-off. Dravid's footwork to Murali was never convincing and it was no surprise when, on 12, he charged down the track and the ball darted, via bat and pad, to Russel Arnold at silly point (124 for 3).

Mohammad Kaif overcame an early bout of the jitters and opened up to play some graceful strokes as the sun started to go down. Sourav Ganguly, his form shot to pieces, scratched around at the other end as India endeavoured to reach stumps without further damage. Fernando had other ideas, a fast delivery that darted back catching Kaif (37) on the crease and shattering the stumps (155 for 4). Fernando, the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers, then had Hemang Badani (6) slashing at one a country mile outside the off stump. The thin edge was gathered by Kumar Sangakkara behind the stumps (161 for 5). Two balls later, the umpires offered Ganguly and Sameer Dighe the light and they trudged off, giving an even darker shade to Badani's act of indiscretion. After having done all the spadework, the Indians find the hosts firmly in control of the trench after day one.

Dileep Premachandran is assistant editor of Wisden India

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