Indian bowlers met an unexpected obstacle in centurion Sonal Dinusha but the Manav Suthar-led unit carried enough grunt to establish a sizable 178-run lead over Sri Lanka on the third day of the first Test here on Monday.
Sri Lanka were bowled out for 284 in their first innings as Suthar (4/76) and Ravindra Jadeja (3/57) led India’s attack with skill and verve.
Once the hosts were reduced to 99 for five at lunch, thanks to the early brilliance of left-arm spinner Suthar, the end seemed imminent for them.
But Dinusha, who made a crafty maiden international hundred of 100 off 168 balls, and the seasoned Niroshan Dickwella (80, 115b) added 146 runs off 216 balls for the sixth wicket to keep the rampaging Indian bowlers at bay.
They added 116 runs in the second session without losing a wicket.
Unlike their top-order colleagues, Dickwella and Dinusha were not in a hurry, showing a lot of judiciousness in shot selection on a still good to bat pitch.
Sweep was a preferred mode of scoring for both the batters against Indian spinners, and the two Lankans displayed good skills from dispatching the balls from the stump line.
Dickwella, whose selection kicked up a lot of furore in local cricketing circles, reached his 50 off 67 balls, while his younger partner was much slower in reaching the little landmark in 92 balls.
However, Dickwella, who was dropped on 20 by KL Rahul at slip off Suthar, had a momentary lapse of concentration, edging pacer Prasidh Krishna to Rishabh Pant behind the stumps, a few minutes into the final session of the day.
However, Dinusha carried on and reached his hundred in 167 balls, but fell leg before to Jadeja in the very next ball.
The Dinusha-Dickwella alliance was a study class in remarkable temperament and adequate technique while facing up to skillful spinners.
But the same cannot be said about the other batters in the Lankan top-order, who played with hard hands and drove away from body to get caught in awkward positions.
In the first session, the Indian bowlers led by left-arm spinner Suthar discovered immaculate lines to tear through the Sri Lankan top-order.
India resumed from overnight 460 for 9, and added only a couple of runs to finish their first essay on 462.
The Lankans needed a solid start for a strong pursuit of that total and they received anything but that.
Lead pacer Mohammad Siraj struck with his second delivery of the innings to deal an early jolt to the Lankans.
Nishan Fernando, who was impressive for SLC XI in the warm-up match, could not handle Siraj’s away swing and bounce, snicking him to Devdutt Padikkal at first slip.
At 0/1, the Lankans were on the back foot immediately, and their lot never really improved in the subsequent overs.
Suthar was at the forefront of the tormentors gang, generating lovely flight, dip and turn to trouble the batters.
The young spinner got into the act with his very first delivery, finding a faint outside edge from veteran Dinesh Chandimal, which nestled in the safe palms of Rishabh Pant.
Lahiru Udara and Kamindu Mendis, two batters averaging over 50 in Test cricket, looked solid, and the latter even clattered Prasidh Krishna for a pulled six.
Udara also appeared not much troubled as he pulled and cut Suthar for a couple of boundaries.
But Suthar fetched the breakthrough eventually, as Udara’s feeble swish off him went straight to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully. Suthar was exceptional as he found turn consistently bowling above 85 kmph.
Mendis would count himself a bit unlucky as an uppish push off Kuldeep Yadav stuck in the stretched hands of a diving Shubman Gill.
Jadeja too found himself in the wicket-takers’ list with the scalp of Lankan skipper Dhananjaya de Silva (21), who feathered the left-arm spinner to Rahul at slip.