India plunder 417 on opening day

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Gautam Gambhir scored his eighth Test century, as India posted their highest total in a day, on the first day in Kanpur. — AFP Photo

It was a run orgy at the Green Park stadium in Kanpur. The first session witnessed a semblance of a battle, at least in the first hour, but the rest of the day was a one-way street, with India utterly dominant. Gautam Gambhir notched up his seventh hundred in nine Tests - and his fourth on the trot - Virender Sehwag completed a feisty century, Rahul Dravid was close to his ton and the end-of-day score was the highest in a day for India.
The situation was summed up by the sight of Rangana Herath bowling over the stumps and outside leg when Dravid had just walked out to the crease. It said everything about Sri Lanka's attitude and India's total domination. With the pitch expected to assist spin later in the Test, it could get even tougher for Sri Lanka over the next few days.
It wasn't just the runs, it was the manner in which they were compiled from the second hour on that was telling. The batsmen seemed to do as they wished: Gambhir punctuated his charges down the wicket with delicate late cuts, Sehwag went either inside-out or carved across the line, and Dravid, who hit the last ball of the day for a four, pierced the off-side field at will.
Inevitably, there plenty of records to note: it was the first time India scored over 400 in a day, it was the highest opening partnership between Gambhir and Sehwag, and even Muralitharan, at one point, was leaking more than 6 runs per over.
Gambhir went after Herath in his first over, hitting him for three fours: he whipped one through covers, cut past point and stepped out to loft to the straight boundary. When Herath returned later, Gambhir went repeatedly down the track to drive him to distraction. If Gambhir reserved the best of his aggression for Herath, Sehwag went after Mendis in the first session and took care of Muralitharan in the second. Mendis floated a full toss, offered a long-hop and slid one down the leg side in his first spell and Sehwag sent each one to the boundary. — Cricinfo
India 417 for 2 (Gambhir 167, Sehwag, 131, Dravid 85*) v Sri Lanka.