Sri Lanka gain upper hand against India

Visitors were 165-4 in their first innings when bad light ended a dramatic day in Kolkata

Lahiru Thirimanne and Angelo Mathews hit half-centuries to give Sri Lanka the advantage against India on day three of the rain-hit opening Test yesterday. The visitors were 165-4 in their first innings when bad light ended a dramatic day at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.
They trail India by seven runs with skipper Dinesh Chandimal not out on 13 and Niroshan Dickwella on 14. Indian paceman Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav claimed two wickets each on a day when almost three full sessions were played. Only 31.5 overs were bowled on the first two days because of rain and bad light. The islanders depended on a 99-run third wicket stand between Thirimanne, who made 51, and Mathews, who scored 52, after losing their openers early. The left-right batting combination of Thirimanne and Mathews mixed caution and aggression against a persistent Indian pace attack.
Thirimanne, who was dropped on 27, registered his fifth Test fifty but soon edged a moving delivery by Yadav, and skipper Virat Kohli made no mistake at second slip. Yadav struck again in his next over to send Mathews, making a 50 in an impressive comeback from injury, back to the pavilion after giving away a simple catch to Lokesh Rahul at short cover.
With the light fading and the ball continuing to move, Chandimal was repeatedly beaten on both edges during his 33-ball scrap. He was given relief shortly after 4pm local when bad light forced early stumps for the third straight day.
Kumar struck early to remove openers Dimuth Karunaratne, for eight, and Sadeera Samarawickrama, for 23, as the visitors slipped to 34-2 before bouncing back. “The conditions were challenging out there. Once in a while we got unplayable deliveries,” said Thirimanne. “Overall, I think we batted really well. Angelo and I spoke about not just batting through the overs but scoring runs. We couldn’t convert the fifties into big scores but that’s what happens on this pitch. Even when you’re in the fifties you get unplayable deliveries. But we should have made bigger scores,” the left-handed batsman added. In the morning session, a late-order push by Indian batsmen saw the hosts post 172, a score that looked unlikely at 128-8. After overnight batsman Cheteshwar Pujara fell early on 52, vital contributions from Wriddhiman Saha (29), Ravindra Jadeja (22) and 24 from number-10 Mohammed Shami frustrated the Sri Lankan bowling. Shami limped off during the Sri Lankan innings five balls into an over which he could not finish. Pace spearhead Suranga Lakmal finished with figures of 4-26 after taking three wickets on day one to justify the visitors’ decision to field first. Sri Lanka, despite being underdogs against the top-ranked hosts, are eyeing their first Test win on Indian soil during the three-match series.

Scoreboard  
India 1st innings
C. Pujara b Gamage  52
W. Saha c Mathews b Perera  29
R. Jadeja lbw b Perera  22
B. Kumar c Dickwella b Lakmal  13
M. Shami c Shanaka b Gamage  24
U. Yadav not out  6
Extras (lb4, b6)  10
Total (all out, 59.3 overs)  172
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Rahul), 2-13 (Dhawan), 3-17 (Kohli), 4-30 (Rahane), 5-50 (Ashwin), 6-79 (Pujara), 7-127 (Jadeja), 8-128 (Saha), 9-146 (Kumar), 10-172 (Shami)
Bowling: Lakmal 19-12-26-4, Gamage 17.3-5-59-2, Shanaka 12-4-36-2, Karunaratne 2-0-17-0, Herath 2-0-5-0, Perera 7-1-19-2

Sri Lanka I innings
S. Samarawickrama c Saha b Kumar  23
D. Karunaratne lbw b Kumar  8
L. Thirimanne c Kohli b Yadav  51
A. Mathews c Rahul b Yadav  52
D. Chandimal not out  13
N. Dickwella not out      14
Extras (lb4)  4
Total (4 wickets, 45.4 overs)  165
Fall of wickets: 1-29 (Karunaratne), 2-34 (Samarawickrama), 3-133 (Thirimanne), 4-138 (Mathews)
Still to bat: D. Shanaka, D. Perera, R. Herath, S. Lakmal, L. Gamage
Bowling: Kumar 14.4-2-49-2, Shami 13.5-5-53-0, Yadav 13-1-50-2, Ashwin 4-0-9-0, Kohli 0.1-0-0-0