Dravid, Dhoni tons rescue tottering India

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Dravid, Dhoni tons rescue tottering India

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16 November,2009 06:50 pm

Rahul Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit centuries as India brushed aside a stunning start by Sri Lanka's new-look pace attack in the first Test on Monday. Left-arm seamer Chanaka Welegedara grabbed three wickets in his first four overs and Dammika Prasad took one to reduce India to 32-4 within the first hour of play of Ahmadabad Test. Dravid smashed an unbeaten 177, his 27th Test century, and Dhoni made 110 as India turned the tables on the hapless tourists to reach 385-6 by stumps in an enthralling start to the three-Test series. Dravid hit 26 boundaries and a six in an unusually aggressive innings that saw him complete 11,000 Test runs with his final single of the day. When he had reached 105, Dravid surpassed retired former Australian captain Steve Waugh's tally of 10,927 runs to become the fifth highest Test scorer behind Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting and Allan Border. Skipper Dhoni played the supporting role during a sixth-wicket stand of 224 after left-hander Yuvraj Singh (68) had begun the rescue act by adding 125 for the fifth wicket with Dravid. Dhoni fell to the second new ball shortly before close, caught behind off Prasad, leaving Harbhajan Singh to keep Dravid company at stumps on two. Welegedara, playing only his second Test, gave away just 28 runs in his opening spell of seven overs, but finished the day at an expensive 3-75 in 17 overs.