|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Sonal Dinusha was unbeaten on 85 and debutant Pasindu Sooriyabandara made 80 as Sri Lanka reached 265 for 8 on the third day of the second Test in Colombo, still 238 behind India’s 503 for 9 declared and short of the follow-on mark. Prasidh Krishna took 3 for 47 and Manav Suthar 3 for 83. Rain ended play early with two wickets left to take.
Colombo, Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka began the day 8 for 2 and 495 behind. They ended it with two batters having passed 80, two wickets standing, and the weather doing them a favour.
Pasindu Sooriyabandara made the morning possible. The debutant batted 133 balls for his 80, hitting nine fours, and negotiated Mohammed Siraj’s pace and Prasidh Krishna’s angles through the longest passage of resistance Sri Lanka have managed in this series.
Two Partnerships, Then Attrition
Sooriyabandara first added 27 with Kamil Mishara, who fell for 19, and then 87 for the fourth wicket with Kamindu Mendis. That stand carried Sri Lanka to 130 for 4 at lunch and gave the innings a shape it had lacked in Galle.
Mendis went for 32 shortly before the interval. After a 30-minute rain delay pushed back the second session, India returned with spin and struck immediately: Manav Suthar got one to grip and turn, Dhananjaya de Silva could only edge, and the ball deflected off Dhruv Jurel’s gloves before KL Rahul completed a sharp catch at slip on the second attempt.
The Ball That Ended the Century Bid
Sooriyabandara was 80 and four hits from a maiden Test hundred in front of his home crowd when Ravindra Jadeja produced the delivery of the day.
It pitched full on leg stump. Sooriyabandara pushed across the line looking to work it to the on side, and the inside edge went off his back thigh and rolled back onto the stumps. It broke a stand with Dinusha that had been gathering pace, and Siraj then trapped Niroshan Dickwella for a duck. Sri Lanka went to tea 216 for 7, still 287 behind.
Dinusha Counters
The final session belonged to Sri Lanka. Dinusha counter-attacked his way to a third successive score of fifty or more, finding an ally in Keshara Nuwantha for a stubborn eighth-wicket stand that frustrated India for a long spell.
ALSO READ: Sooryavanshi takes two wickets in an over on his Duleep Trophy debut as East Zone win by an innings
When Nuwantha fell, Lahiru Kumara offered further resistance, and the pair saw Sri Lanka to the close with Dinusha unbeaten on 85 — still short of the mark needed to avoid the follow-on.
India’s bowlers worked hard for what they got. Prasidh finished the day with 3 for 47 and Suthar 3 for 83, with Jadeja and Siraj taking one apiece. Saransh Jain bowled a long spell without reward, though he troubled the batters with turn and bounce.
The second new ball became available late on, but the fading light meant India used spin from both ends, Jadeja and Jain operating as they waited for another opening. At around 5pm local time the rain came, and that was that: 265 for 8 from 83.4 overs.
Where It Stands
India lead the two-match series 1-0 after the 165-run win at Galle, and remain in control. Two wickets on Wednesday morning will end the innings, and with Sri Lanka short of the follow-on mark, India will have the option of sending them straight back in on a surface that is turning.
Jurel, who made 115 not out in the first innings, has kept wicket throughout Sri Lanka’s innings in place of Rishabh Pant. Pant’s 63 from 89 balls on day two took him past MS Dhoni as India’s leading wicketkeeper run-scorer in away Tests.
Stumps, Day 3: India 503/9 declared (Dhruv Jurel 115*, Devdutt Padikkal 117, Rishabh Pant 63, Shubman Gill 50; Asitha Fernando 4-106)
Sri Lanka 265/8 (83.4 ov) — Sonal Dinusha 85*, Pasindu Sooriyabandara 80, Kamindu Mendis 32; Prasidh Krishna 3-47, Manav Suthar 3-83
Sri Lanka trail by 238 runs
Venue: Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo
