On paper, it couldn’t be more of a mismatch. The No 1 ranked team, India travel to the home of the No 7 team, Sri Lanka for a full three-Test series. India are coming off a run of eight undefeated Test series wins, Sri Lanka lost their One-Day International series against Zimbabwe and had to dig deep to beat them in the Test.

But then cricket has a way of being unpredictable and Sri Lanka, however weak they look, can never be ruled out at home. Last year at home, they whitewashed Australia 3-0 in a result few expected. And India will remember how the same opposition shocked them in the Champions Trophy, albeit in a different format.

Find out how Day 1 of the first Test in Galle goes, live:

Live updates:

Stumps on day one: India end the first day just one run short of 400. FOUR HUNDRED! One can only wonder how many more India could have scored had Shikhar Dhawan not thrown his wicket away at the stroke of tea for a swashbuckling 190. The honours for the day will be shared with Cheteshwar Pujara, an anti-thesis to Dhawan, who scored a steady, flawless century, finishing unbeaten with 144. Rahane ends with 39.

A day of toil for Sri Lanka – especially that carnage in the second session, where Dhawan alone scored 126 runs. The hosts even lost a player for the series to injury.

STAT-ALERT: To put India’s domination in perspective, this is now officially the highest total on day one of a Test match away from home. 100-run partnership up between Pujara and Rahane as well.

05:00 pm: India 364/3 after 82 overs. New ball taken and this *could* be a tricky little phase for India before stumps. Nuwan Pradeep & Herath have the responsibilities to look for a breakthrough.

04:45 pm: After 77 overs, 350 up for India. The music from the stands is livening up a rather sedate session of cricket as Sri Lanka use spinners to possibly quicken the over-rate. Pujara anad Rahane dealing in ones and twos.

Drinks time now. We still have EIGHTEEN OVERS left in the day. Does anyone care about over rates anymore? Apparently not.

4.20 pm: From the rush of the second session, it’s been a lot more traditional after tea. Pujara has moved on to 109, Rahane’s been slow but has just hit a straight four to move to 15. Partnership is 49 in 91 balls. India 335/3.

Cheteshwar Pujara, you wonderful cricketer. A near-flawless innings to reach his 12th century. 16 Tests in the last year, and Pujara has 1466 runs (and counting), at an avg of 66.63. STUNNING numbers! He gets from 88 to 104 with three boundaries, no mucking around.

03:45 pm: 313/3 after 66 overs (Pujara 98*, Rahane 4*) After a sedate period, the match comes alive. Into the 90s goes Pujara. Back-to-back fours, using his feet on both occasions. Herath has not a good day with the ball.

03:30 pm: 298/3 after 61 overs (Pujara 85*, Rahane 3*) The excitement levels this season are going to be significantly lower, given Dhawan is not around and Kohli is gone as well. Rahane and Pujara in the middle now. The former gets off the mark after 15 balls, while Pujara drops anchor too, closing in on a century.

03:15 pm: VIRAT KOHLI IS GONE! Sri Lanka strike again! It’s Nuwan Pradeep, again. And what a big wicket. Virat Kohli tries to pull a bouncer down the leg side, it balloons to the keeper but there is no noise as such. Umpire says not out, Sri Lanka review. It takes forever for the 3rd umpire to make his call – because there was only a minor squiggle on the UltraEdge, but there seemed to be a clear deviation. In the end, right decision made.

Play underway in Galle, with Kohli and Pujara looking to seal India’s position in this Test.

Some reaction to that Dhawan innings:

02.45 pm: And that’s tea. India are 282/2 in 55 overs. They piled up 167 runs, losing just one wicket in 28 overs that session. Well and truly on top.

Dhawan was incredible...his 190 was utter class. He’ll be kicking himself for throwing it away though. Pujara as always solid...75 off 135 balls.

A little bit of criticism for Dhawan, but then again, he was looking so good:

02.40 pm: OH NO, he’s gone! Right at the stroke of tea, Dhawan steps down to Pradeep, tries to hit him above mid-off, but can’t clear it. Mathews takes the catch, Dhawan is out on 190 off 168 balls. India are 280/2.

02.30 pm: The eye-popping statistic is that 155 runs have been scored in 25.2 overs so far. Just ten minutes till tea...India are 270/1.

Kohli’s a happy chap...though this tweet came on Sunday. But he must be enjoying!

And more records:

02.20 pm: Dhawan makes room, crunches Herath on the off-side away and scores 100 in a session! The session run rate is over 6...India 255/1 in 50 overs. Gabbar is 171 off 157...and still going!

02.10 pm: As expected, he brings up his 150 in just 147 balls. Then slams another two boundaries. Partnership has crossed 200. This is a landslide. India 241/1...in just 48 overs.

02.00 pm: Now Dhawan is hitting at over 100. He’s racing to another landmark. 144 off 143 currently. India 222/1.

But he still has a way to go before he can emulate the Nawab of Najafgarh.

01.45 pm: Dhawan on a rampage. Takes three fours off that Kumara over. India bring up their 200 in 40.5 overs, a run rate of 4.8. This is quite a rampage. Dhawan is currently 126 off 130, Pujara steady on 59.

01:25 pm: And ChePu’s turn to celebrate. Brings up yet another half-century in Tests, his 16th in Tests – might be heading towards yet another century. Back-to-back fours from 49.

Some Dhawan stats:

01: 12 pm: Gabbar celebrates in style! A dominating 100 – he’s been on fire, dealing in boundaries. Just a reminder that he was not even part of the original squad.

01:10 pm: Three more boundaries for Dhawan, two off Perera and one off Pradeep – the man is in a hurry to get to 3 figures. Just one hit away now.

MORE BAD NEWS FOR SRI LANKA: Gunaratne dropped a catch off Dhawan... and ended up fracturing his hand. Won’t play in this Test again, reportedly.

12:55 pm: India 131/1 after 30 overs. Seems like Dhawan must have had an enjoyable lunch – has started with 3 boundaries. Back-to-back straight drives against Herath, using his feet well. And now pulls Pradeep for 4. 100 partnership up between Pujara and Dhawan too, with the latter reaching 78.

The pitch map provides an idea why SL have been so listless.

12:40 pm: We are back underway after lunch. It’s been easy going for India so far, will the second session be any different?

12.05 pm: And that is lunch on the first day at Galle. India are 115/1 in 27 overs. Dhawan is 64 off 78 balls...a fine innings, except for the dropped catch. Pujara has been his usual self, starting slow but growing in confidence and is now 37 off 60 balls. Mukund was the only wicket to fall.

Sri Lanka bowled decently but their fielding wasn’t great. Spin hasn’t caused much problems as of now. They’ll have their work cut out.

By the way, in case you didn’t know, this might be an interview question soon:

11.58 am: A couple of minutes away from lunch...Dhawan has already tucked into Herath for two fours. First session is India’s but it could have been Sri Lanka’s, if they had taken Dhawan’s catch. India 112/1.

11.45 am: And Dhawan gets his half-century. Just tucks it down the ground. Solid knock, and he looks like he just got started. Kohli applauds from the dressing room. India 95/1.

11.30 am: The 50-run partnership comes up and Dhawan is nearing his 50. Sri Lanka are really losing it now. The 50-run stand arrived in only 60 balls. Dhawan hit a four next ball...even Pujara is scoring fast. Looking bleak for Herath unless he can do something major. India 82/1.

11.15 am: Dhawan looking very solid, but Sri Lanka are helping him. A comical misfield from Herath brings up the the fifty for India, then Dhawan crashes two fours off the next over. There’s a beamer and a dropped catch. All happening India 60/1 in 14 overs.

10.55 am: Shikhar Dhawan has looked very solid. Rotating the strike, using his feet to get boundaries....very good form. And because of that, Mukund’s loss hasn’t affected India. They are 43/1 in 11 overs.

10.40 am: GONE! Abhinav Mukund was looking tentative and he edges behind off Nuwan Pradeep. Good first break for Sri Lanka. Mukund goes for 7, India 27/1.

10.30 am: Couple of plays and misses and an lbw shout later...India haven’t lost a wicket. 23/0 in 6 overs. Need to play out these first few overs. Mukund has looked a little edgy but he has hit two boundaries. Dhawan has taken the singles.

An interesting debate about who is better between Ashwin and Herath. Their numbers are so similar:

10.20 am: Shikhar Dhawan gets India’s innings on track with a beautiful straight drive for four. It’s been steady so far. 11/0 after 3.

By the way, Kevin Pietersen didn’t really know what Shastri was doing:

So Twitter decided to..uh...educate him.

10.08 am: Steady and simple for India. They are 4/0 in the first over. Shikhar Dhawan and Abhinav Mukund are the openers. No KL Rahul or Murali Vijay, remember.

9.58 am: The sun is out, the national anthems are done. It’s time for cricket.

But, let’s admire Herath’s longevity before that:

9.45 am: India have won the toss, Virat Kohli says he will bat. And Hardik Pandya makes his Test debut.

But also no Ishant Sharma. Here’s a look at the India XI.

Three pacers, Shami, Umesh and Hardik. Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin the spinners. Good pick?

9.15 am: Good morning. If you want to brush up on why this series is significant, why not read our preview?

And it’s always a delight to hear Ravichandran Ashwin speak..

More so, when he’s playing his 50th Test! Well done, macha!