Some de Silva lining at last as India are held
DHANANJAYA de Silva’s wonderful century helped Sri Lanka defy India in a brilliant finalday batting display in Delhi.
Leading 1-0 in the three-Test series, India looked like doubling their advantage only for de Silva to bat out for a draw and prevent a heavier series defeat.
De Silva’s innings, eventually brought to a premature end by injury, was the bedrock to the tourists’ defiance, although Roshen Silva also impressed with an unbeaten 74.
India had put themselves on the front foot with captain Virat Kohli smashing a majestic 243 in the first innings.
But having seen his side take control of the match, the captain was naturally frustrated his side could not see it through.
“When you’re not able to finish off in the second innings after having them three down on day four is disappointing,” Kohli said. “They played well, they showed composure and confidence.
“The pitch got tired in the end. They didn’t give us any chances to get into the game. In hindsight, if we would’ve grabbed our chances in the first innings, maybe they wouldn’t have got so many runs. We should’ve done better. The slip catching and fielding, we need to work on.”
“It was a good series, both personally and for the team. It was kind of a revelation that I can play in Tests the way I can do in ODIs. There’s nothing called set pattern these days, if you can believe in yourself, you can achieve anything in any format.
“When I wasn’t captain, it was difficult to think of situations. When I was finding my feet in Test cricket, I was under pressure. When I got to a milestone, I relaxed. Now, it’s a lot different.”
The Test was often interrupted due to smog in the Delhi air with Sri Lanka opting to wear masks when fielding to stop breathing in the thick air. Indeed, it got so bad that India’s Mohammad Shami and Sri Lanka’s Suranga Lakmal vomited on the field on day four with Sri Lanka coach Nic Pothas revealing his players were in ‘discomfort’ and that Lakmal ‘didn’t feel very well’.
India’s cricket board insist they will take smog into consideration when scheduling matches at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in future, but claim it didn’t affect the hosts as much as it did the Sri Lankans.
Murali Vijay hit a brilliant ton in India’s first innings to support Kohli’s knock. And even though the visitors had two centurions of their own in Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal, their 373 always put them behind the eight ball in chasing India’s declared first innings of 536-7.
Ravindra Jadeja picked up three wickets but Sri Lanka held firm with captain Chandimal lavishing praise on his side’s character.
“We learnt a lot,” the skipper said. “Credit to the players and management for working hard. The guys executed their plans in the middle.
“It was a tough time, the thing is, we aren’t used to the pollution. That’s why we struggled in the first two days. We told the boys, we need to forget about it and play the game.”