It was a freak day of Test cricket, probably the first time that has happened in this country, as four players from the same team were injured on the same day and three of them walked off the field. But the Sri Lankans weren’t complaining as they seized the initiative in the first Test by reaching 251 for six and have a two run lead with four first innings wickets in tact.

But the day belonged to Sri Lanka’s vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara, who made a painstaking unbeaten hundred wrestling hard to put his side on top. Sangakkara’s 17th Test hundred and the second against the Indians took almost five hours as he faced 226 balls hitting 11 boundaries.

Known for his aggressive stroke play, the left-hander assessed the conditions pretty early and on a wicket that was gradually slowing down, he played cautiously with the series at stake.

He walked in to join Chaminda Vaas after Michael Van Dort had been picked up early by Zaheer Khan, not before he had posted his highest score in the series (a grand contribution of 14 runs!) and steadied the ship with a 95 run partnership for the third wicket.

Vaas, who was unfortunate to not to pick up a wicket, did more than what was asked of him by his captain with a resolute 47. He had been pushed ahead of Kumar Sangakkara, Friday

evening as the night watchman and not only did he take the shine off the ball but ended up as the second top scorer in the Sri Lankan innings.

He was on 39 as Sri Lanka took lunch on 114 for two and after the break was put down by Sachin Tendulkar at backward short leg off the bowling of Anil Kumble. While attempting the catch, Tendulkar injured his left elbow and had to walk off the field.

But he failed to make the Indians pay as he fell to Harbhajan in the next over when he tried to break the shackles, but hit it straight to Virender Sehwag at covers and missed out on his 14th Test fifty.

He also missed out on joining an elite club of all-rounders, who had taken 300 wickets and 3000 runs. Only Imran Khan, Richard Hadlee, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Shaun Pollock and Shane Warne had achieved the grand double.

Sangakkara, meanwhile, made the most of the reprieve and made sure a miss of a catch hurt the Indians. The culprit of that dropped catch was Rahul Dravid, who grassed the chance off his captain at first slip.

After Vaas, the Indians dismissed Mahela Jayawardene cheaply for two, but Thilan Samaraweera and Sangakkara added 60 runs for the fifth wicket and a further 43 with Tillekeratne Dilshan for the sixth.

The woes for the Indians started in the morning when V.V.S. Laxman sprained his ankle while warming up and had to be taken off the field. India’s physiotherapist Nithin Patel said that the player was taken for a precautionary scan in the morning.

After Tendulkar left the field in the afternoon, Ishant Sharma broke down with a bruised glut (muscle in the buttock) and it was this injury that hurt the Indians most as they were not able to take the new ball even after it was due.

None of the three players returned to the field and although Laxman and Tendulkar are expected to bat, Sharma’s availability during Sri Lanka’s first innings is left to be seen.

Wicketkeepr Parthiv Patel also sustained a cut on the face while keeping wickets to Kumble, but remained on the field and is out of danger.

India 1st Innings 249
Sri Lanka 1st Innings (14 for one overnight)
M. Van Dort lbw b Zaheer 14
M. Warnapura b Sharma 08
C. Vaas ct Sehwag b Harbhajan 47
K. Sangakkara not out 107
M. Jayawardene lbw b Harbhajan 02
T. Samaraweera ct Patel b Zaheer 35
T. Dilshan lbw b Kumble 23
P. Jayawardene not out 01
Extras: (b 2, lb 9, w 2, nb 1) 14
Total: for six wickets 251
Overs: 92.
Fall of wickets: 1-14,2-42,3-137,4-141,5-201,6-244.
Bowling: Zaheer 20-4-57-2 (1nb), Ishant 15.3-3-33-1, Harbhajan 31.3-8-81-2 (2w), Kumble 24-2-68-1, Sehwag 1-0-1-0.
To bat: Dhammika Prasad, Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan.
Umpires: Rudi Koertzen (RSA) and Mark Benson (Eng)
3rd Umpire: Asoka de Silva (SL)
TV Referral Umpire: Billy Doctrove (WI)