At stumps on the second day of the first Test at Galle International Stadium against Virat Kohli-led India on Thursday, Sri Lanka posted 154 for the loss of five wickets in 44 overs, before on-field umpires dislodged the bails, in first innings as hosts are still trailing by daunting 446 runs. (Watch Here: Abhinav Mukund’s Swift Act At Silly Point Results In An Epic Dismissal).
The right-handed batsman Angelo Mathews remained unbeaten on 54 off 91 balls, as his innings is laced with eight boundaries and a solitary six.
At the other end, Dilruwan Perera is batting on six off 15 deliveries, after visitors bowlers picked wickets at regular intervals to pile-up the miseries for Rangana Herath-led side at their own backyard.
For India, Mohammed Shami bagged two wickets after conceding 30 runs in his nine overs, as Umesh Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin picked a wicket each
In 40th over, at the fag end of the day when Sri Lanka was 143; Niroshan Dickwella (8 off 15) was splendidly caught by Abhinav Mukund at silly point while showing the great reflexes — to claim a one-handed catch, on the bowling of Ravichandran Ashwin, who has claimed his first scalp of the ongoing Test match.
For the fourth wicket, Upul Tharanga and Angelo Mathews in an attempt to steady the ship posted vital 57 runs, before unfortunate run-out saw the left-handed opener Tharanga walking-off the ground when great presence of mind from Abhinav Mukund at silly point saw him throwing the ball at the gloveman Wriddhiman Saha, who dislodged the bails, as Tharanga’s bat in the meantime again bounced in the air after it was grounded in the first attempt.
The senior campaigner Tharanga posted 64 off 93 deliveries, as his innings included 10 boundaries.
While coming to the bat in the post-lunch session, Sri Lanka got off to a shaky start, as the left-handed batsman Dimuth Karunaratne was undone by fast bowler Umesh Yadav when he was batting on 2 off 9 balls.
Karunaratne was trapped in front of the stumps by Yadav which further saw third umpire Rod Tucker upheld the decision of on-field umpire Bruce Oxenford after the batsmen opted for a review, as the ball was clearly hitting the middle of middle stump.
The Lankan Lions lost their first wicket in the very second over of the hosts’ innings when the score was just seven.
(Read Here: Sri Lanka Vs India 1st Test, Day 2: Twitter Reacts As Bowlers Put India In Driver’s Seat).
Earlier, at tea Sri Lanka posted 38 for one in the first innings in response to India’s 600 which further saw the late-order blitz from Mohammed Shami, as debutant Hardik Pandya went on to register his maiden fifty.
In 15th over, Mohammed Shami claimed two wickets to give a major setback to the hosts while maintaining his perfect line and the length.
While making a Test debutant Danushka Gunathilaka flashed his bat without any foot movement whatsoever, has found the bucket like hands of Shikhar Dhawan at first slip on the bowling of Shami which further saw Lanka 68 for two in 14.2 overs.
After facing four deliveries, the youngster Kusal Mendis was dismissed on the same score, on duck by Shami after nicking the ball straight into the hands of Shikhar Dhawan at first slip, in the space of three balls.
Starting off the day with an overnight score of 399, India went on to post 201 runs, before the side was all-out on exactly posting 600 on the giant scoreboard.
In the morning session of day two, India lost the first wicket when Team India’s score was 423 in 97.4 overs, as Cheteshwar Pujara was caught by wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella on the bowling of Nuwan Pradeep after scoring 153 off 265 deliveries.
The middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed by young prospect Lahiru Kumara after scoring 57 off 130 deliveries when wicketkeeper Dickwella completed a regulation catch.
Showing the promise with the bat Ravichandran Ashwin posted 47 off 60 deliveries, as he was caught by wicketkeeper Dickwella on the bowling of highest wicket-taker Pradeep, in the first innings for Sri Lanka.
Wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha (16 off 32), who was aiming to rotate the score was dismissed by left-arm orthodox spinner Rangana Herath after scoring 16 off 32 deliveries when Dilruwan Perera completed a simple catch at mid on after Saha came down the track to find the toe-end of the bat.
Ravindra Jadeja (15 off 24) was cleaned up on a searing yorker by Nuwan Pradeep, who completed his figures of six for 132 in 31 overs.
Mohammed Shami smashed three sixes to score run-a-ball 30, before being caught at deep square leg region by Upul Tharanga. Shami tried to flex his muscles which further saw a ball taking a higher end of his willow – to see India on 579 for nine.
The last man to go was Hardik Pandya (50 off 49 balls), in 132nd over, when the all-rounder was caught by substitute fielder Dhananjaya de Silva at the deep square leg region.
For the tenth wicket, Pandya and Umesh Yadav posted 31 runs on the board. Yadav remained unbeaten on 11 of 10 deliveries.