Galle, Sri Lanka: Off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claimed 6-46 to help India bowl out Sri Lanka for a paltry 183 Wednesday in its first innings at tea on day one of the first test.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Sri Lanka lost both openers to the short ball before Ashwin came on to trouble the home team batsmen with sharp turn and steep bounce on a dry surface.
Ashwin bowled unchanged from the City End until lunch and picked up three wickets to leave Sri Lanka on 65-5 at the end of the first session.
Soon after lunch, it could have been 66-6, but Dinesh Chandimal was dropped on five.
Chandimal and captain Angelo Mathews helped to stabilize the innings, putting on 79 runs for the sixth wicket.
Mathews reached his half-century by coming down the track to Harbhajan Singh and smashing the ball over long-on for six. Chandimal too was in attacking mood as he hit four boundaries in an over bowled by Varun Aaron.
After lunch, Indian captain Virat Kohli bowled Ashwin from the Dutch Fort End. The off spinner was ineffective but soon made an impact again when he changed ends.
The sixth-wicket stand was broken when Rohit Sharma took a superb diving catch on the rebound as Mathews fell to Ashwin for 64.
In his next over, Ashwin claimed Dhammika Prasad leg before wicket for no score to complete his 11th five-wicket haul in test cricket.
There was excellent support from leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who claimed 2-20 in his six overs as spin accounted for eight Sri Lankan batsmen. India packed its side with three specialist spinners, the first time since 1997 it had played three spin bowlers in an overseas test match.
Tail-ender Rangana Herath contributed with a determined 23 off 24 balls with four fours.
