© AFP

Thilan Samaraweera, making a debut in the Colombo Test made a lot of hay when it shined at its best. The tiring Indian bowlers had no will or the heart to dismiss the batsmen as they hoped for a Sri Lankan declaration. Samaraweera took the opportunity to race to his maiden Test hundred and that too in his debut Test. He made an unbeaten 103 off 175 balls, striking ten strokes past the ropes. Along with Tillakaratne he added 194 unbeaten runs for the seventh wicket to take Sri Lanka to 610/6 at which point Jayasuriya declared the first innings.