Play suspended because of dangerous pitch

It was surprising it took them 23.3 overs to call off play. On a Kotla pitch where the bounce varied from shin to shoulder in as short a spell as consecutive deliveries, Sri Lanka had reason to be thankful for they got away with just two hits on the body that needed attention.

At around 11.20am, one length delivery from debutant Sudeep Tyagi reared up from a length to almost clear MS Dhoni behind the stumps, and the players had had enough by then.

Full of action, the first 23.3 overs featured a wicket first ball; a dropped catch first ball of second over; blows on the elbow, shoulder, fingers; frenzied running; thick edges flying past third man; and wickets for Zaheer Khan, Tyagi and Harbhajan Singh. Dhoni, coming back from a two-match ban, was stupendous behind the wickets, getting his legs together for the shooters and reacting well to the lifters. Not one bye was conceded.

 Sunil Gavaskar described the uneven sprinkling of grass on the pitch as a "hair transplant" with bald patches. When the ball hit the grassy areas it seamed and bounced, from the bald patches it died along the ground. What made it difficult for the batsman was that the lengths from where the ball behaved so drastically different were not too far apart from each other. The moisture didn't help either.

 Zaheer got just enough seam movement to crash through the gap between Upul Tharanga's bat and pad first ball of the day. Ashish Nehra could have got Tillakaratne Dilshan with the first ball he bowled, but Suresh Raina failed to hold on to a high catch at cover-point. Perhaps Dilshan would have rather that he had got out then going by the way he had to consistently drop his wrists out of the way of balls bouncing from just back of a length. One such from Nehra got him in the elbow, just over the elbow guard. The way he came down, throwing his bat away immediately, it seemed a nasty blow. He came back up, hit his first boundary off the 23rd ball he faced, but couldn't last much longer.

 Zaheer didn't need any of the assistance from the pitch with Dilshan's wicket. He continuously beat the batsman outside off, and kept getting closer and closer until he finally got the edge. Sanath Jayasuriya, 20 years and 1 day old in international cricket, fought it out, despite blows on his elbow, shoulder and fingers. He played two exquisite cover-drives, but the pitch seemed to have already affected his team-mates' mindsets. Kumar Sangakkara looked to make the most out of deliveries in his zone, but ended up chipping Tyagi to cover.

 Jayasuriya finally got one with his name on it through some smart piece of bowling from Harbhajan in his first over. He followed three offbreaks with a topspinner that went in fast and stayed a touch low, and Jayasuriya was caught plumb in front, for 31 off 51. Raina compensated for his earlier blip in the field, with a direct hit on the run with one stump visible to send back Thilan Samaraweera.