India gained an upperhand in the second cricket Test against Sri lanka by taking a handy 87-run first innings lead despite a fighting century by rival skipper Angelo Mathews, here on Saturday.
Resuming at the overnight score of 140 for three, the hosts were cruising along comfortably with Mathews (102) and lahiru Thirimanne (62) adding 127 runs for the fourth wicket before losing seven wickets for a mere 65 runs on an engrossing third day’s play.
The hosts were bowled out for 306 shortly after the tea break with leg-spinner Amit Mishra being the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/43 in 21 overs.
Mishra was well complemented by Ishant Sharma (2/68) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/76) as they turned the tide just when it looked like Sri lanka were on course of a decent first innings total.
India lost first innings centurion Kl Rahul (2) in the very first over being bowled by Dhammika Prasad but Murali Vijay (39 batting) and Ajinkya Rahane (28 batting) ensured that there were no further setbacks by taking the score to 70 for one and extending the overall lead to 157 runs.
The highlight of the third day’s play was Mathews’ sixth Test hundred as he gave ample display of his batting class and showed that he is ready to take over the mantle of their top batsman from the retiring legend Kumar Sangakkara. His innings had 12 boundaries in all.
The track which has already shown signs of wear and tear with the spinners getting enough turn to make batting difficult on the final two days.
The first session belonged to Sri lanka as they went into lunch at 224 for three with Mathews batting on 72 and Thirimanne was undefeated on 57.
But it was Ishant, who turned the complexion of the game with his post lunch spell. First he got rid of Thirimanne, caught behind off a fuller delivery. A rain break followed which must have impacted their concentration as first Test hero Dinesh Chandimal (11) fell cheaply offering a catch off Ishant’s delivery to Rahul at first slip.
Rangana Herath (0-23) was given the new ball to see if he could extract more turn from the pitch and repeat his Galle performance. But the two batsmen didn’t give any chances. There were a couple close lBW shouts against both Vijay and Rahane, but they endured and kept the scoreboard ticking.
Dushmantha Chameera (0-14), Tharindu Kaushal (0-20) and Angelo Mathews (0-1) were the other bowlers, but they too were negotiated easily. India’s 50-mark came up in the 19th over and shortly afterwards the duo also brought up their 50-run stand off 112 balls.
Mathews kept going at the other end and his perseverance paid off. He notched up his 6th Test hundred in the 98th over off 164 balls. Virat Kohli had to go for some treatment in that over and Ajinka Rahane was put incharge for that short span of time.
‘Second new ball did the trick’
Praising India for the favourable position they find themseleves in against Sri lanka, former captain Sunil Gavaskar on Saturday said that the second new ball made Ishant Sharma turn it around for the visitors in the ongoing second cricket Test here.
“The second new ball was always going to be India’s hope. And that’s what happened when Ishant got rid of Thirimanne, because that is what opened the doors for India. Till then it looked these two were taking Sri lanka closer to the Indian score. In the end those two wickets, of Thirimanne and Chandimal, that actually showed Sri lanka down and (Amit Mishra) Mishraji joined the party,” Gavskar told NDTV.
Thirimanne fined
Sri lankan middle-order batsman lahiru Thirimanne was fined 30 per cent of his match fee for “showing dissent at an umpires’s decision” during the third day of the ongoing second cricket Test.
Thirimanne was found to have breached Article 2.1.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision during an International Match”. The incident happened in the 85th over of Sri lanka’s first innings when he stood his ground for a prolonged period of time before leaving the crease while shaking his head after being adjudged caught behind by Saha off Ishant.