Padikkal century in Colombo lifts India to 300 for 5 as Pant retires hurt

A second Padikkal century in as many Tests carried India to 300 for 5 on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. Devdutt Padikkal made 117. India lead the two-match series 1-0 and need only avoid defeat here. Rishabh Pant retired hurt on 3 after a Lahiru Kumara bouncer struck him on the wrist.

Asitha Fernando took 3 for 46 and kept Sri Lanka in the contest. Dhruv Jurel was 7 not out at stumps. Beside him stood Saransh Jain, 4 not out on the first day of his Test career. Eighty-five overs brought 300 runs and five wickets.

Two hundreds in two Tests

Padikkal made 167 and 44 at Galle a fortnight into this tour. Outlook India reported that his 211 runs in that match made him the third Indian to pass 200 as a number three in an away Test, after Rahul Dravid and Sanjay Manjrekar. He was dropped before he had scored here. He hit twelve fours after that. Keshara Nuwantha eventually found the edge.

Yashasvi Jaiswal made 45 at the top. Padikkal and Shubman Gill then took India through the middle of the day before Fernando struck twice either side of the last interval. The innings has been built by the men at three and four rather than by the openers, which is a change from the pattern of India's recent overseas Tests.

Gill past 3,000 Test runs

Gill made 50 and reached a career mark on the way. Asianet Newsable put him at 3,004 Test runs from 43 matches and 77 innings, at 43.53, with eleven hundreds. He got there aged 26 years and 349 days. That is the fourth-youngest an Indian has reached the figure. Sachin Tendulkar did it at 23 years and 228 days.

Fernando removed him for exactly 50. Gill has now scored 1,111 runs in 18 innings since taking the captaincy, at 74.06, by the same count.

India's day one card

The scores at the close of the first day in Colombo:

• Devdutt Padikkal 117, bowled Keshara Nuwantha
• Shubman Gill 50, bowled Asitha Fernando
• Yashasvi Jaiswal 45
• Ravindra Jadeja 43, bowled Asitha Fernando
• Dhruv Jurel 7 not out, Saransh Jain 4 not out
• Rishabh Pant 3, retired hurt
• Sri Lanka: Asitha Fernando 3-46, Lahiru Kumara 1-38

Pant leaves the field

Kumara got a ball to lift and Pant took it on the wrist. He walked off on 3 and did not return. He padded up again later without going out. India have not said whether he will bat again in the innings or keep wicket on the second day.

Jurel is the reserve wicketkeeper and is already at the crease. India would lose a specialist batter from the middle order if he takes the gloves. The tail is short. Jain and Manav Suthar are both playing their first or second Tests.

Jadeja's fiftieth in the championship

Jadeja made 43 from 83 balls and added 74 with Padikkal after tea. He batted through cramp in his left arm and called for the physio more than once. Fernando bowled him with one that came back in.

CricTracker reported that the match is his fiftieth in the World Test Championship, the first time an Indian has reached that number. He is 37. India won at Galle by 165 runs and a draw in Colombo takes the series.