Colombo: Sri Lanka, trailing 1-0 in the two-Test series against India, reached 265 for eight at the close of an early finish to play on Tuesday in the first innings of the second and final Test. Sri Lanka need another 39 runs on Wednesday, the fourth day, to avoid the follow-on. India remain in a strong position, but the Indian players were troubled in two ways on Tuesday. Sri Lanka were still 238 runs behind India’s first-innings total. Play is expected to begin at 9.45 am on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka’s batters, particularly those at No. 7, No. 9 and No. 10, made life difficult for the Indian bowlers. To make matters worse, the rain also did not spare either team. More than an hour of play was lost in total because of rain and bad light. Play was scheduled to continue until 6.13 pm on Tuesday, but the umpires were forced to call it off early because of the poor weather.
How Many Balls Did the Batters Face?
In reply to India’s declared first-innings total of 530 for nine, Sri Lanka had lost five wickets for just 137 runs. However, a determined fightback by the lower order took their score to 265 for eight by the end of the day. Three lower-order batters faced 50 or more balls.
They included No. 7 Sonal Dinusha, who was unbeaten on 85 off 137 balls with two sixes and six fours; No. 9 Keshara Nuwantha, who scored 18 off 74 balls with one six and two fours; and No. 10 Lahiru Kumara, who was unbeaten on eight off 50 balls with one four.
Earlier, No. 4 Pasindu Sooriyabandara had also troubled the Indian bowlers and made the fielders work hard, scoring 80 off 133 balls with nine fours. However, Ravindra Jadeja produced a crucial breakthrough to end a long partnership, clean-bowling Sooriyabandara and denying him what would have been the first century of his career.
Three Wickets Each for Manav and Krishna
Spinner Manav Suthar took three wickets for 83 runs, while pacer Prasidh Krishna claimed three for 47 by repeatedly troubling the batters with short deliveries. Jadeja bowled 19.4 overs, including four maidens, and took one valuable wicket for 45 runs. Mohammed Siraj claimed one wicket for 33 runs.
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New off-spinner Saransh Jain went wicketless for 51 runs, but he played a useful role in keeping the Sri Lankan batters under some control.
Keshara Nuwantha and Sonal Dinusha added 57 runs for the eighth wicket before spinner Manav Suthar broke the partnership. Earlier, Kamindu Mendis and Sooriyabandara had put on 87 runs for the fourth wicket. Prasidh Krishna ended that partnership by having Mendis caught by Jadeja after Mendis scored 32 off 58 balls, including one six and three fours.