India's opening combination had changed but the Kanpur story seemed to be repeating itself as M Vijay and Virender Sehwag launched into the Sri Lankan bowlers after India had taken 27 minutes to dismiss their batting on the second morning. Angelo Mathews raced from 86 to 98 in no time but, having endured anxious moments on that score, he ran himself out when coming back for the second run that would have got him a maiden hundred.
Vijay, playing his second Test, both because of Gautam Gambhir's unexpected absence, started positively, flicking Chanaka Welegedara over square leg in the first over. Vijay dominated the strike in the first three overs, and when Sehwag got a full over to face, he started with an on-drive off Nuwan Kulasekara, wide of mid-on.
Whatever little swing the new-ball bowlers got had disappeared by then, and Sehwag unleashed an array of cuts, cover-drives, on-drives and flicks. The only blip after that came when Welegedara got one to seam away from him in the ninth over. By then both openers had reached 20, and India 41. With Vijay batting sensibly, but not slowly, it hardly seemed Gambhir was missing.
Sehwag soon overtook Vijay and widened the gap between the scores. Rangana Herath, bowling before Muttiah Muralitharan, was not welcomed kindly. Sehwag lofted him for a six in the first over, chipped him over mid-off when he saw a long-on in place, and then Vijay cover-drove him for four in the next over.
Kulasekara came back for another spell but didn't have an impact. Herath, meanwhile, was hit for another six, and Sehwag reached his fifty off 54 balls. It was a sign of the times that when Murali came on to bowl, in the last over before lunch, he had a long-on in place. As if to reiterate his presence, Vijay drove the last ball before the interval, against the spin, for a four that took him to 38.
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