Iyer rescues India as Lankan spinners thrive in day-night test

BENGALURU, India :India were bowled out for 252 in the first innings against Sri Lanka on a pitch that offered the spinners turn and variable bounce on day one of the day-night test on Saturday.

While the pitch proved tough to score runs on, middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer was unperturbed and reached 92 after India won the toss and skipper Rohit Sharma opted to bat first in front of a near-capacity crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

India's openers fell cheaply in the first session, with Mayank Agarwal run out in the second over attempting a non-existent run after Rohit Sharma failed to send him back in time.

With the pacers having no luck, Sri Lanka switched to spin early and Lasith Embuldeniya (3-94) struck in his second over, enticing Rohit (15) into a defensive shot and drawing an edge which was safely pouched in the slips by Dhananjaya de Silva.

Rohit was playing in his 400th international game and his wicket ironically drew cheers from the Bengaluru crowd as it brought Virat Kohli - former captain and the star of their Indian Premier League franchise - to the crease.

Kohli and Hanuma Vihari built a 47-run stand to steady the ship but left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama (3-81) started asking questions of the batsmen with his turn.

After snaring Vihari leg-before and seeing the decision overturned on review, Jayawickrama eventually got his man with a rising delivery that turned and nicked Vihari's bat and he was caught by wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella for a patient 31.

Sri Lanka brought on a third spinner in De Silva and he struck in his first over to trap Kohli (23) leg-before with a delivery that kept surprisingly low, silencing the home crowd as the umpire raised his finger.

Rishabh Pant, dropped early in his innings