Sri Lanka 8 for 2 (Prasidh 1-1) trail India 503 for 9 dec (Padikkal 117, Jurel 115*) by 495 runs
At the crease was Kamil Mishara on debut, as he watched helplessly from the non-striker’s end as his opening partner Lahiru Udara, and then nightwatcher Prabath Jayasuriya, fall under fading light. Both batters walked off openly aggrieved, having repeatedly complained to the umpires about the light conditions, but India won’t mind that one bit.
Sri Lanka had begun their response with a little under an hour’s play left in the day, but had to go off the field after two deliveries when it started drizzling. The dark clouds overhead suggested that something heavier was coming but it never transpired. Play then resumed at 5.35pm local time, where only three overs were possible before umpires stopped play for bad light.
In that time, there were consistent complaints from the Sri Lankans about the light, but to no avail. Not that that would have been an excuse for the two dismissals.
The first was one that bounced sharply and straightened down the line of off stump from Prasidh Krishna, as Udara seemed to close the face a touch early looking to defend it into the onside. The ball flew off the leading edge as Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully took an outstanding catch diving to his right.
Jayasuriya meanwhile survived a Manav Suthar arm ball once in the over, rapped on the back foot but with it set to miss leg stump, but was done in by another a few balls later – this one striking the bat via the front bad. Sri Lanka reviewed, but umpire’s call on the wickets hitting confirmed the bad news. The umpires brought play to a close straight after.
If Sri Lanka will feel hard done by the conditions, India will be absolutely chuffed at having made the most of what is likely to be the best of the batting conditions, as Jurel with contributions from a wounded Rishabh Pant and Suthar potentially batted Sri Lanka out of the contest.
Jurel started the day off with Saransh Jain for company, but the debutant wouldn’t last long, failing to successfully fend off an Asitha Fernando bumper to a diving second slip. It was Asitha’s fourth of the innings, but he would be unable to get what would have been a first ever five-for on Sri Lankan soil.
Saransh’s dismissal brought back Pant, and it was here that India took control of proceedings. Sri Lanka had done well till that point to chip away on what was a pretty placid pitch – albeit one that was beginning to take more turn.
But any hopes they had of running through the Indian lower order were quickly extinguished as Pant and Jurel took charge. The former struck a customarily brisk 63 off 89 during a stand of 112 off just 152 deliveries.
In fact, as Pant walked out to the middle every one knew what the plan would be – barrage him with some short stuff. And for a while it seemed that Pant would remain circumspect, perhaps waiting out the now customary short spells from the fast bowlers.
A wise move, a practical move even. Oh what’s that? It’s on the roof? Yup. That’s not Pant’s game. A short ball from around the wicket, a ball not all that dissimilar to the one that injured Pant the previous day, and there he was getting inside the line to hook and landing it on the SSC roof.
The ball was replaced and Pant did not look back. At the other end Jurel was the picture of calm, just gliding along with singles and the odd boundary. There were no shots in anger, no risk, but yet the scoreboard kept moving along.
Sri Lanka’s spinners in the meantime began to find grip and turn, but so set were the pair they quickly moved past any that beat the bat and carried on unflustered.
The wicket, like so many in this Indian innings, came against the run of play as Pant found long-off first ball after lunch. His exit brought about a more attritional session as Suthar and Jurel put together a 39-run stand off 76 deliveries, but worryingly for Sri Lanka the score kept going.
It took another batter error to bring the breakthrough as Suthar edged a pretty standard wide delivery from Jayasuriya. With Mohammed Siraj out in the middle, Jurel finally began farming the strike, but even so the score moved along.
The only excitement at this point came about as a result of the rain, which stopped the post-lunch session early and delayed the start of the final session. When play resumed, Jurel had a nervy moment getting to his century.
With 21 deliveries having gone by after reaching 99, Jurel was biding his time patiently for that crucial single. Sri Lanka for their part played on the psychology of the situation bringing in the field.
In the end the pressure told, as Jurel stole a quick single to mid-off, one where a direct hit would have seen him dismissed. As it was, his full length dive was unnecessary as the ball missed the stumps.
Following this, India looked to up the scoring rate and quickly passed the 500 mark before promptly declaring. Then with the ball they put Sri Lanka well and truly on the ropes.
