Galle: Barring Devdutt Padikkal’s individual brilliance, there has been nothing sensational about either India’s batting or their bowling.
Yet, they have managed to take a firm grip of the opening Test against Sri Lanka.
At stumps on Tuesday’s fourth day, the hosts, chasing a mammoth 372 for win, slipped to 84/4, leaving India with just the formalities on the final day.
A fortuitous Dhananjaya de Silva (31 n.o.) and first-innings centurion Sonal Dinusha (25 n.o.) prevented more damage with a stubborn unbroken stand of 37 as the home team, still 288 runs in deficit, hopes their batters’ resilience and divine intervention would help them avoid defeat.
Sri Lanka could have been five down had Ravindra Jadeja, who had extracted an edge from Dhananjaya to first slip, not overstepped. The no-ball saved the Lankan skipper who was then on seven and the total 33/3.
Resuming their second innings, India, who had a 178-run cushion, produced another underwhelming performance with the bat before being dismissed for 193 all out in 48.5 overs. While that, coupled with an impressive first-innings lead, helped them set up a formidable target, the display with the bat was unsatisfactory without being concerning. The fourth-day pitch expectedly offered more turn, especially for the left-arm spinners, but it was not as difficult as India’s second innings score suggests.
For the time being, though, Indians would not be complaining as they realise a full complement of World Test Championship points (12) are theirs to lose.
As in the first innings, Mohammed Siraj provided the first breakthrough as Nishan Maduksha’s attempted hook could not go beyond Prasidh Krishna who completed a good catch at deep backward square-leg. Maduksha, who had nicked Siraj’s seaming delivery to slip in the first innings, looked determined to not repeat the mistake. While Siraj did test him with teasing deliveries in the corridor, Maduksha refused to take the bait before the pacer slipped in a bouncer. The right-hander looked unprepared and paid the price.
That opened up the door for the brilliant Manav Suthar who dismissed Kamindu Mendis and concussion sub Pasindu Sooriyabandara who came in for injured Dinesh Chandimal. The left-arm spinner first trapped Sooriyabandara, who was playing his first Test innings, in front after convincing his captain to go for DRS. The second wicket also came via TV umpire on on-field umpire’s referral. Suthar induced an edge off Udara’s bat that flew to Dhruv Jurel at gully. Though the repeated replays appeared to suggest the ball might have scraped the turf, the umpire was convinced that Jurel had his fingers under the ball.
The fading light then combined with Lankan resistance, as the hosts lived to fight another day.
Earlier, it was largely because of Rishabh Pant (66) that India could manage a decent total in a reasonably quick time. The left-hander brought up his knock in just 69 balls with the help of eight boundaries and a couple of sixes, forcing the Lankan pacers to bowl on his body from round the wicket — a tactic they employed effectively to wipe off the Indian lower order and tail in quick time. Pant has come into sharp focus in recent times for his batting approach that is sometimes not in sync with the team’s requirements. On the day, however, it was exactly what the situation demanded and he delivered.
That he equalled Adam Gilchrist’s record of 100 sixes in just 51 Tests as opposed to Australian’s 96 appearances was the icing on the cake.
SCORE BOARD
INDIA (I Innings): 462 all out
SRI LANKA (I Innings): 284 all out
INDIA (II Innings):
Jaiswal c Dickwella b Asitha 0
(3m, 4b)
Rahul c sub b Jayasuriya
(78m, 47b, 2×4, 2×6)
Padikkal lbw Nuwantha 44
(126m, 75b, 6×4)
Gill lbw Jayasuriya 8
(23m, 19b, 1×4)
Pant c Dickwella b Lahiru 66
(100m, 69b, 8×4, 2×6)
Jurel c Dickwella b Asitha 7
(14m, 15b, 1×4)
Jadeja c sub b Lahiru 7
(63m, 19b)
Suthar c Dickwella b Asitha 9
(27m, 25b, 1×4)
Kuldeep c Dhananjaya b Jayasuriya 5
(23m, 10b)
Siraj (not out) 2
(14m, 6b)
Prasidh c Lahiru b Asitha 2
(7m, 7b)
Extras (LB-1, W-2, NB-3) 6
Total (all out, 48.5 overs) 193
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Jaiswal), 2-65 (Rahul), 3-81 (Gill), 4-111 (Padikkal), 5-120 (Jurel), 6-174 (Pant), 7-179 (Jadeja), 8-188 (Suthar), 9-190 (Kuldeep).
Bowling: Asitha 8.5-0-31-4 (nb-3, w-2), Nuwantha 23-3-86-1, Jayasuriya 11-0-43-3, Dhananjaya 1-0-4-0, Lahiru 5-0-27-2.
SRI LANKA (II Innings):
Maduksha c Prasidh 6
(27m, 27b)
Udara c Jurel b Suthar 16
(100m, 58b, 1×4)
Sooriyabandara lbw Suthar 0
(3m, 1b)
Kamindu c Rahul b Prasidh 2
(15m, 12b)
Dhananjaya (batting) 31
(106m, 73b, 3×4)
Dinusha (batting) 25
(55m, 36b, 4×4)
Extras (LB-1, NB-3) 4
Total (for 4 wkts, 34 overs) 84
Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Maduksha), 2-14 (Sooriyabandara), 3-21 (Kamindu), 4-47 (Udara).
Bowling: Siraj 5-1-11-1 (nb-1), Suthar 11-0-30-2, Prasidh 8-2-13-1, Jadeja 6-0-16-0 (nb-2), Kuldeep 3-0-8-0, Padikkal 1-0-5-0.