Twin tons put Sri Lanka on top

Kumar Sangakkara capitalises on his decision to bat first with a fluent century as Sri Lanka dominated the first day at Galle

Centuries from Kumar Sangakkara and Tharanga Paranavitana put Sri Lanka in control of the first Test against India in Galle as they ended the opening day on 256 for two.

Much of the pre-match focus had been on Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who will retire from Test cricket after this game.

However, it was Sangakarra and Paranavitana who stole the show with a stand of 181, before the former smacked a Virender Sehwag long-hop to Sachin Tendulkar at deep midwicket.

Paranavitana, who had reached his maiden Test century just after tea, made no such error as he reached 110 not out before the umpires brought an early end to play due to bad light.

Muralitharan needs only eight wickets to reach 800 Test scalps in his 133rd Test, but the veteran was forced to take a back seat after Sangakkara elected to bat.

India handed a debut to 20-year-old Abhimanyu Mithun, but it was his senior partner Ishant Sharma who the Sri Lanka batsman took a liking to in the early stages.

Tillakaratne Dilshan thrashed three boundaries in the ninth over as Sharma's opening five overs cost him 41.

Mithun kept things far tighter at the other end and claimed his first Test wicket with a well-aimed bouncer that caught the gloves of Dilshan, who had raced to 25 from 24 balls, as he attempted to maintain his early attack.

Paranavitana offered a tough chance when a leading edge gave Gautam Gambhir little time to react at silly point just before lunch, but he and Sangakkara were hardly troubled thereafter.

They reached their half-centuries off successive balls, before Sangakkara survived a scare as India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni uncharacteristically spilled an easy chance when Sehwag found his edge.

The left-hander made India pay as he reached his century from 136 balls before tea.

And Paranavitana wasted little time in following suit, bringing up his ton from 201 balls after the interval.

Sangakkara departed for 103, but there was little time for India to test new batsman Mahela Jayawardene before bad light stopped play with Sri Lanka on course for a significant first-innings total.