Ashwin fifer gives India edge but Lanka fight back
SECOND TEST India enforce the follow on but Sri Lanka ride dogged century by Kusal Mendis
Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis and Dimuth Karunaratne showed no signs of pressure against a mountain of runs and came out all guns blazing in the second innings to make India work harder than anytime during the series on Saturday.
Powered by Mendis’s 110 and an unbeaten 92 from opener Karunaratne, Sri Lanka were 209 for two after being asked to follow-on, at stumps on the third day of the second Test. Sri Lanka still trail India by 230 runs, having conceded a 439-run lead following woeful batting in the morning.
Hardik Pandya provided India the breakthrough at the fag end of the day with wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha taking a diving catch off Mendis’s inside edge. The counter-attacking innings was studded with 17 fours and came off just 135 balls.
LANKAN FIGHTBACK
Ever since India’s epic fightback against Australia at Eden Gardens in 2001, teams are reluctant to enforce follow-on. This Indian team management is also not keen, and refused to use the option in Galle. But with a massive lead, their hand was forced.
Sri Lanka’s second innings too started on a poor note when Upul Tharanga was bowled by Umesh Yadav in the third over. On a dry surface, spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were the main threat. But Mendis and Karunaratne had their plans in place. Mendis straightaway went for his shots. He countered the threat from Ashwin by targetting the midwicket region. He used the cross-batted shot to good effect whenever the spinner gave air. Though a risky option, the diminutive batsman executed it well by staying on top of the bounce. He raced away to the three-figure mark with his batting partner still in his 70s. Karunaratne looked to play straight, worked his way off the pads by relying on the safer flick shot. The two added 191 for the second wicket, and more importantly, gave their team belief.
ASHWIN DOMINATES
R Ashwin picked his 26th fivewicket haul to bundle out Sri Lanka for 183. He was well-supported by Jadeja, who completed 150 Test wickets with his second scalp of the day.
Resuming the day on 50/2, Sri Lanka disintegrated quickly. Jadeja created doubts in the batsmen’s minds in the first over itself when he let a few balls rip. The batsmen paid the price for a lack of application. The home team’s hopes rested almost entirely on the overnight pair of Dinesh Chandimal and Kusal Mendis. However, both fell to poor shots and the rest fell away.