Sri Lanka suffer early losses in 2nd innings
New Delhi: India remained on course for their ninth successive series victory as Sri Lanka collapsed to 31 for three, chasing 410 for a win at the Feroz Shah Kotla on the fourth day of the third Test here Tuesday.
Sri Lanka made the mistake of trying to survive the 16 overs of play that was possible. Had they shown a little more positive intent, probably they would have been better off
Mohammed Shami (1/8 in 3 overs), who was unwell after a three-over burst, bowled a hostile spell and accounted for Sadeera Samarawickrama (5). A barrage of short deliveries from the pacer unnerved the opener and finally he gloved one of those to Ajinkya Rahane in the slips.
The ever-accurate Ravindra Jadeja (5-2-5-2) had Dimuth Karunaratne caught behind, giving Wriddhiman Saha his fifth catch of the match. The decision to send Suranga Lakmal (0) as night-watchman backfired as he played on while trying a forward defensive prod.
Earlier the Indians riding on half centuries from Shikhar Dhawan (67, 91b, 5×4, 1×6) Virat Kohli (50, 58b, 3×4) and Rohit Sharma (50, 49b, 5×4) posted 246 for five, with an overall lead of 409 runs. Cheteshwar Pujara (49, 66b, 5×4) also played a good knock. However, Ajinkya Rahane’s (10) horrendous form with the bat continued as fell once more to a spinner.
It was a 77-run stand in 17.2 overs for the third wicket between Pujara and Dhawan in the post lunch session that set the platform for Kohli and Rohit to accelerate in the final session. The Indian skipper and his limited overs deputy added 90 runs in only 15.2 overs.
It was Pujara, however, whose uncharacteristic batting set the tone for India in the second innings. The Saurashtra batsman was even more attacking than Dhawan, whose knock had the only six of the innings, a straight hit off chinaman bowler Lakshan Sandakan (1/50).
The two batsmen were especially severe on off-spinner Perera. Whenever he dropped it short, the batsman hit him on either side of the wicket. If he flighted the ball, they stepped out and maneuvered it for singles and doubles. Pujara was finally dismissed when Dananjaya de Silva (1/31) had him caught at slip with the ‘drifter’.
Kohli promoted Rahane to give him enough time to settle down and bat his way out of form. However, trying an unnecessary lofted shot he perished against Perera caught at long-on.
Earlier, courtesy skipper Dinesh Chandimal’s career-best 164, Sri Lanka scored 373 in their first essay. Ishant Sharma (3/98) got Chandimal to wrap up the Lankan innings.
