Galle: Niroshan Dickwella and Sonal Dinusha mounted a stirring second-session counter-attack for Sri Lanka by striking unbeaten half-centuries to lead a brilliant recovery in the second session on day three’s play of the first Test against India.
By the time tea break arrived at the Galle International Stadium Monday, Dickwella (71 not out off 102 balls) and Dinusha (62 not out off 102 balls) had seen out 29 overs in the session without losing a single wicket, as Sri Lanka reached 214/5 in 57 overs and trail India’s first-innings total of 462 by 248 runs. In the evening session, Sri Lanka will also need 48 more runs to avoid follow-on.
Resuming from 99/5, Sri Lanka looked in danger of conceding a massive first-innings deficit. But Dickwella, playing a Test match after three years, and Dinusha exhibited exceptional composure on a turning pitch, including sweeping and reverse-sweeping very well, by adding 124 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket stand, thus denying India the opportunity to put pressure on them.
Dickwella was the initial aggressor, employing the sweep shot with great effect to disrupt India’s spin rhythm. In the 32nd over, India burned a review when left-arm spinner Manav Suthar rapped Dickwella on the pads, only for the ball tracking to confirm the impact was outside-off stump.
Ravindra Jadeja similarly came close to breaking the stand in the 35th over, appealing passionately for an lbw decision against Dickwella. India reviewed once more, but the ball-tracker showed the ball bouncing over the leg stump, costing the visitors their second review.
Moments later, KL Rahul put down a sharp, high-chance edge at slip off Suthar to grant Dickwella another reprieve on 20. Capitalizing on the missed opportunities, the wicketkeeper-batter brought up his 23rd Test half-century and the first one in four years off 68 balls with a flicked double off Jadeja in the 46th over.
At the other end, Dinusha played a remarkably controlled knock, mixing soft-handed defence against the turning ball with calculated aggression, especially when deploying the sweep shot.
In the 49th over, the youngster reached his second Test fifty off 93 balls by sweeping wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav to deep mid-wicket. He celebrated the milestone by launching Suthar over the deep mid-wicket boundary for a clean six.
Indian skipper Shubman Gill rotated his attack, including bringing back pacers Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna for brief spells of reverse swing, but the pitch yielded little joy for the seamers, as Dickwella and Dinusha brought Sri Lanka back into the match.
Brief Scores: India 462 in 116.4 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 167, KL Rahul 82; Prabath Jayasuriya 4-109, Keshara Nuwantha 3-175) lead Sri Lanka 214/5 in 57 overs (Niroshan Dickwella 71 not out, Sonal Dinusha 62 not out; Manav Suthar 2-52, Mohammed Siraj 1-29) by 248 runs.