BOWLERS’ DAY OUT

Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer shine with the bat again, as India declare 2nd innings at 303 - 9; Sri Lanka 28-1 as 14 wickets fall on Day two in Bengaluru

Rishabh Pant put Sri Lankan attack to the sword with a recordbreaking half-century while Shreyas Iyer yet again conjured up a measured fifty to let India grab complete control of the second Test here on Sunday.

Pant's 31-ball 50 and Iyer's 67-run knock after useful contribution from top-order batters meant that India set Sri Lanka a mammoth 447run target after declaring their second innings at 303 for nine.

The struggling visitors would need no less than a miraculous show to save the match after ending the second day at 28 for one.

Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne (10) and Kusal Mendis (16) will resume Sri Lankan chase on Monday morning.

With plenty of time at their disposal after bundling out Sri Lanka for 109 in the first session of the day for a 143run first-innings lead, India batters gained more experience of playing with pink

Brief Scores: India: 252 and 303 for 9 decl (Shreyas Iyer 67, Rishabh Pant 50, Rohit Sharma 46; Praveen Jayawickrama 4/78) against Sri Lanka: 109 (Angelo Mathews 43; Jasprit Bumrah 5/24) & 28 for 1 in 7 overs. ball on a wicket that assisted spinners.

Like in the first innings, it was Pant's blitzkrieg that forced Sri Lanka into complete submission. He did not let them gain momentum after getting breakthroughs. Pant's game-changing innings let Iyer play freely and that certainly helped India to extend their lead beyond the 400-run mark.

Iyer carried from where he left in the first innings, scoring 67 off 87 balls with help of nine shots to the fence.

There is never a dull moment when Pant is at the crease and it did not change today. He cut, pulled, swept, reverse swept, drove, charged down the wicket at will and raised his fifty off just 28 balls with 40 of those runs coming in boundaries.

It was the fastest Test fifty by an Indian, obliterating the 30-ball effort by Kapil Dev against Pakistan in 1982. He fell for an even 50, becoming the third scalp of leftarm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama (4/78).

The Indians scored at a good pace throughout the day with Lankan bowlers failing to exploit the spin-friendly conditions.