Sri Lanka 194-3 at tea vs India

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Kumar Sangakkara scored 75 runs on Tuesday to lift Sri Lanka to 194-3 at tea on the opening day of the third cricket Test against India.

The host team resumed after lunch on 102-2 and added 92 runs in the session, losing one wicket. Sangakkara faced 114 balls and hit five boundaries and two sixes before being caught by Virender Sehwag at long-off to a delivery from left-arm spin bowler Pragyan Ojha.

Opener Tharanga Paranavitana (8) was dismissed in the fourth over of the match, caught behind by M.S. Dhoni off seamer Ishant Sharma after Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch that provided some movement at P. Sara Oval.

Tillakaratne Dilshan put on 87 runs for the second wicket with Sangakkara before being run out for 41 at the stroke of lunch. Mahela Jayawardene was batting on 39 with Thilan Samaraweera on 18.

Indian batting star Sachin Tendulkar became the most capped player in Test cricket when he started his 169th match, surpassing former Australia captain Steve Waugh’s record of 168 tests. The 37-year-old Tendulkar holds the record for most runs in both Tests and limited-overs international cricket as well as most centuries in both those versions of the game.

India retained Suresh Raina, who scored a century on debut, at the expense of Yuvraj Singh but lost the services of regular opener Gautam Gambhir and leading spin bowler Harbhajan Singh to injuries. Murali Vijay will open batting with Sehwag while leg spin bowler Amit Mishra replaces Harbhajan.

Sri Lanka has been boosted by the return of seamer Lasith Malinga, who missed the second test because of injury. Chanaka Welegedara adds variety to the attack with his left-arm seam bowling.

Dammika Prasad and Dilhara Fernando have been dropped. Sri Lanka leads the series 1-0 after winning the first test in Galle by 10 wickets. India must win this match to avoid losing a third series in Sri Lanka since 2001.