Opener Tharanga Paranavitana was unbeaten on 35 and skipper Kumar Sangakkara, who won the toss and elected to take first strike, was on 25 at the break.
Paranavitana and his opening partner Tillakaratne Dilshan enjoyed the good batting conditions at the Galle International Stadium by smashing 55 runs in 10 overs.
India's new seamer Abhimanyu Mithun, showing no signs of nerves on his Test debut, escaped the onslaught by conceding just six runs from his first four overs.
Mithun, a 20-year-old right-arm seamer from Karnataka, was rewarded for his steady bowling when Dilshan edged a pull shot to Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumps.
Dilshan, who hit six fours in his 25 off 24 balls, appeared to indicate the ball went off his elbow to the wicket-keeper.
Left-hander Paranavitana has so far hit six boundaries, taking a heavy toll on seamer Ishant Sharma, who went for 41 runs in his first five overs.
Some 15,000 home fans were on hand to watch the final Test appearance for world bowling record holder Muttiah Muralitharan, who needs eight more scalps to reach the 800-wicket mark.
The start was delayed by 30 minutes due to a wet outfield caused by heavy overnight rain. Bad weather has been forecast on all five days of the Test.
Mithun was handed his Test cap to partner Sharma with the new ball in the absence of the injured duo Zaheer Khan and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.
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