Sri Lanka finally looked to be getting their rhythm right in the match after they pocketed two main wickets in the form of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane to give a highly positive start to the morning session on Day 2 of the 2nd Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club Colombo.
After failing to make use of the momentum effectively yesterday, the Lankans began the fresh day on a highly positive note despite the loss of frontline seamer Nuwan Pradeep who sat out due to a hamstring issue.
Part timer Dimuth Karunaratne trapped Pujara LBW in the second over of the day while debutant Pushpakumara removed Ajinkya Rahane 25 minutes before the lunch break to register his maiden Test wicket.
Pujara, who resumed on his overnight score of 128, was removed for 133 by a gentle in –dipping delivery that struck him on the back pad. Umpire Bruce Oxenford, initially turned down the appeal as he doubted the height of the delivery.
However, the eager Lankans quickly went up for a review and the hawk eye showed that the nicely pitched good length delivery was crashing on the leg stump meaning Pujara had to go back to the pavilion.
This wicket was a great motivation early on in the day.
But, as it happened on Day 1, the hosts let the advantage slip away very easily. Ajinkya Rahane, who finished at 103, and the new man in Ravichandran Ashwin looked at ease batting against the bowling attack and dominated the proceedings for the next hour.
The spin trio of Perera, Pushpakumara and Herath operated relentlessly. There was a larger hint of turn with puffs of dust rising every time the ball was pitched in the good length area.
Ashwin and Rahane did not look bothered despite some challenging deliveries. The pair added a solid 63 was annoying for the bowlers.
But eventually, there was a relief for the hosts after Rahane, for unnecessary reasons, charged out of the crease to get himself stumped and gift his wicket.
Pushpakumara was most vulnerable of getting under pressure quickly. The debutant was too slow and erring with length consistently throughout the course of this innings, prompting Rahane to target him but his approach turned out to be faulty.
The 30-year-old perhaps sensed the right hander coming out of the crease and pitched the ball shorter. The sharp turn did the rest of the work as Rahane missed his wild swing and ball ended up in Dickwella’s gloves who swiftly removed the bails to complete the dismissal.
Rahane’s dismissal did not hamper the run scoring rate. Wriddhiman Saha and Ashwin kept going and eventually batted out the session with Ashwin approaching yet another fifty with 47 and Saha remaining unbeaten at 16 after becoming the 6th Indian wicket keeper to reach 1000 Test runs.
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