Vijay, Kohli help India to strong position in Kotla Test (Tea Report)

India rode on an unbeaten 167-run third wicket stand between opener Murali Vijay and skipper Virat Kohli to post 245/2 against Sri Lanka at tea on the opening day of the third and final cricket Test at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium here on Saturday.

Vijay (101 batting) and Kohli (94 batting) went in to the break undefeated as the islanders failed to cash on the advantage from the first session.

All the Sri Lankan bowlers went for plenty of runs without getting any success in the second session.

Resuming the post-lunch session at 116/2, Vijay played a steady knock to bring up his 11th Test ton in 163 balls, smashing a boundary from chinaman Lakshan Sandakan's delivery.

The Tamil Nadu batsmen helped India maintain a healthy run rate, allowing his captain to express himself.

Kohli at the other end, was the aggressor as he went on to become the fourth fastest Indian to complete 5000 runs in his 105th Test innings.

The 29-year-old scored most of his runs in boundaries, smashing 14 fours in his 101-ball unbeaten knock.

Kohli, who entered his 63rd Test match with 4,975 runs, struck three fours before lunch to be eight short of the mark at the interval.

He played a brilliant backfoot drive past point off paceman Suranga Lakmal to get within a run and then drove him for another boundary past wide mid-off to reach the landmark.

Brief scores: India 245/2 (Murali Vijay 101 batting, Virat Kohli 94 batting, Cheteshwar Pujara 23; Lahiru Gamage 1/45) vs Sri Lanka.

--IANS

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