IND vs SRI: Manav Suthar Took Two Wickets in Five Balls — and See How the Game Turned Around!
Colombo: Sri Lanka’s batters put up a strong fight after being forced to follow on in the second and final Test of the series here, but the Indian bowlers, especially left-arm spinner Manav Suthar, struck at crucial moments to put the hosts in serious trouble. India are now in a strong position to win this Test as well on Thursday, weather permitting, and complete a 2-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka.
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In reply to India’s first-innings declaration at 9/503, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 290, giving India a 213-run lead and forcing the hosts to follow on. Sri Lanka would have avoided the follow-on if they had scored another 14 runs, but debutant off-spinner Saransh Jain struck twice in a short period on Wednesday morning, dismissing Lahiru Kumara (12) and centurion Sonal Dinusha (103) to force Sri Lanka to follow on.
Manav’s wickets and Pant’s stumping became the turning points
Sri Lanka lost their first wicket of the second innings at just five runs, when Mohammed Siraj struck, but a series of small and sizeable partnerships kept the hosts in a reasonably comfortable position. At one stage, Sri Lanka were 3/203 in their second innings and needed only another 10 runs to wipe out the deficit.
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That was when Manav Suthar struck. He first dismissed captain Dhananjaya de Silva (23) at gully, where Devdutt Padikkal took the catch. A little later, Suthar had Pasindu Sooriyabandara (92 off 173 balls, one six and 10 fours), who was closing in on his maiden Test century in only his second Test — stumped by Rishabh Pant, who had returned to wicketkeeping despite an injury to his hand. The batter tried to play a delivery outside the off stump but failed to make the shot, allowing Pant to collect the ball and whip off the bails. Sooriyabandara was well out of his crease and there was no need for a DRS review.
‘The sixth wicket fell five runs after the deficit was erased’
When Sri Lanka reached 5/218 in their second innings, they had wiped out India’s 213-run lead and had added only five more runs, while already losing five wickets. Off-spinner Saransh Jain then struck, trapping wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella (6) lbw.
At the time of that dismissal, Sri Lanka were six wickets down for five runs after erasing the deficit. They added another 11 runs before rain and bad light brought an early end to play by about an hour. Sri Lanka finished the day on 6/229, or 6/16 after the deficit was erased. India now need only four more wickets.
Jadeja and Krishna broke the partnerships
During his 92-run innings, Sooriyabandara shared a 58-run partnership for the second wicket with Kamill Mishara (32 off 39 balls) and a 115-run partnership for the third wicket with Kamindu Mendis (55 off 92 balls). The Sooriyabandara-Mendis partnership frustrated the Indian bowlers for 110 minutes. However, Ravindra Jadeja broke the first partnership, while Prasidh Krishna ended the second.
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Sonal Dinusha, who scored 103 in the first innings before being dismissed, was unbeaten on seven in the second innings, while Keshara Nuwantha was on three. India’s victory will depend on how quickly the bowlers break this partnership on Thursday and wrap up Sri Lanka’s innings.