Sri Lanka vs India, 3rd Test, Day 1 Stats: Dhawan-Rahul stitch record stand
Unlike the previous two Tests, the Sri Lankans managed to make their presence felt at the end of the opening day of the final Test, recovering quickly to take six wickets after the huge opening stand between KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan stole the show in the first session.
The middle-order failed to capitalize on the openers' job, with Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli (who touched a Test average of 50 yet again) going back in the hut before the team had even reached 300. It was left to Wriddhiman Saha and Hardik Pandya to steady the ship and take the Indian innings to the second day without any further damage.
Here are all the numbers from the opening day of the Pallekele Test:
0 - No Indian has made more 50+ scores in consecuTests than KL Rahul (7). Gundappa Viswanath and Rahul Dravid are tied at six each.
1 - The Shikhar Dhawan-KL Rahul partnership is the highest opening stand in Tests by a visiting side in Sri Lanka since 2001.
The previous best was the 167-run stand between Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir.
2 - The last Indian opener to score two 100+ knocks in an away Test series was Rahul Dravid during his golden run against England in 2011.
5 - Dhawan is one of only five batsmen in Tests to make twice the number of 100s (6) as 50s (3), including Sir Donald Bradman and George Headley (min. 5 100s).
6 - This was the sixth fastest hundred for the Indian team in a Test innings since 2001 (17.4 overs).
7 - The number of consecutive 50+ scores by KL Rahul without scoring a century, the joint highest for any batsman (Chris Rogers being the other). Allan Border, Misbah-ul-Haq and Rahul Dravid stand at six each.
This is also the overall joint record for most 50+ scores in Tests: Everton Weekes, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Andy Flower, Kumar Sangakkara and Chris Rogers have achieved it in the past.
9 - In seven out of the nine days played, this series has seen 300+ runs, which is the joint most in a series in Sri Lanka along with the seven seen between SL and Australia in 2004.
11 - Ever since the 2014 Southampton Test match against England (35 Tests ago), India have never played the same XI in successive Tests. This is the 29th consecutive Test without an unchanged XI for Virat Kohli. Sourav Ganguly didn't field the same XI in his first 28 Tests as captain.
2004 - Before today (Kuldeep Yadav and Lakshan Sandakan), the last time two chinaman bowlers played on opposing sides was in Cape Town, 2004: Paul Adams (South Africa) & Dave Mohammed (West Indies) being the two players.
2015 - The last time India had a 100+ opening stand away from home was in June 2015 at Fatullah, Bangladesh, when Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan put on 283 for the first wicket.