SL v IND, 1st Test Day 3 Review: India pile on the agony on lackluster hosts after Kohli, Mukund fifties

Sri Lanka almost doubled their overnight score courtesy a counter punching innings by Dilruwan Perera. They required 247 runs to avoid the follow-on and eventually fell short by 110 runs. But India did not enforce the follow-on, a move which surprised a few. They began batting in the post lunch session and lost last innings centurions – Pujara and Dhawan – before the rain arrived and an early tea was taken.

India effectively batted post lunch session, as Jadeja picked the final Sri Lankan wicket just nine balls after the interval. Overnight unbeaten batsmen Mathews and Perera added 62 runs for the 6th wicket before Mathews was forced to play an uppish drive off Jadeja which was caught by short covers. The former skipper batted well for his 83 but from Sri Lanka’s point of view, they needed him to get a big hundred.

Perera left stranded after maverick innings

Perera took center stage post Mathews’ fall and was left stranded on 92 as the last man Lahiru Kumara was castled by Jadeja. It was an entertaining innings by Perera as he smacked four sixes – two each off Ashwin and Jadeja – in his 132-ball knock. He started the day in attacking fashion as he stepped out and smashed a straight four off Jadeja in only the second over of the day. Shortly after, he slog swept Jadeja which went sailing over the mid-wicket boundary for his first six of the innings. It was his fifth half-century of his short career and perhaps, the best by a distance. He took on Umesh Yadav, who tried to bowl short at Perera but the right-hander was equal to the task. Umesh leaked a lot of runs with the ball as he returned with 1/78 off 14 overs.

After Mathews’ departure, Herath made his way to the middle but was soon removed by Jadeja – caught at slip while attempting a reverse sweep. After scoring an impressive fifty in his debut innings, Pandya was asked to bowl for the first time in Test cricket in the first session of Day 3. He got his maiden wicket on just his 11th delivery in Test cricket when he bowled No. 9 batsman Nuwan Pradeep.

First innings centurions fall early in second innings

Shikhar Dhawan started off from where he left in the first innings. He drilled three boundaries and in an attempt to get another one, he fell for 14 failing to keep a cut shot down. Pujara began in typical fashion, taking his time to get settled into an innings. He was unlucky to be dismissed down the leg side. Herath had strategically placed a leg gully and Pujara found the man while playing a leg glance. Post his dismissal for 15, rain forced the players off the field.

Kohli-Mukund help India march on

Virat Kohli came in with a very positive mindset post tea, picking two boundaries from his first four balls. Abhinav Mukund, following his failure in the first innings, batted very solidly to record his second Test match half-century. His knock came at a fair clip as he reached the landmark in 78 balls. He grew in confidence after fighting his demons early on and blossomed in the final session of the day alongside his skipper. Kohli, also brisk in his pace of run scoring, reached his first half century in 8 innings, taking 10 balls fewer than his partner. Both piled on the misery on a depleted Sri Lankan bowling attack which had been bereft of Asela Gunaratne in the first session of the Test on Wednesday.

On the last ball of the penultimate over of the day, Dilruwan got one to spin and bounce which left an impact on Mukund’s mind as he was beaten all ends up. In the next over, the last for the day, Kohli took a single and Mukund was still reeling from that heavy spinning ball. Part-time off-spinner Gunathilaka was smart in his thought process as he bowled the one which came into the left-hander with the ball. Mukund’s bat was nowhere close to the ball as the ball thudded into the pads of the 27-year old. The umpire didn’t hesitate in raising his finger. Mukund, in sight of a hundred, made a desperate review which was frittered as the ball tracker showed that the ball would have crashed into the middle stump.

Mukund was involved in a 133 run stand with Kohli and will be gutted to miss out on a maiden Test ton. The duo ran very hard between the wickets as the heavy shower in the afternoon slowed down the outfield. Kohli hit just five boundaries in his unbeaten knock of 76 while Mukund managed 8 in his attractive 81.

India will be looking to bat for an hour tomorrow morning before declaring as the weather could be an issue. Their lead is just two runs short of 500 and one could expect Hardik Pandey walking into bat at No. 5 tomorrow morning.

Brief Scores:

India – 600 & 189 for 3 (Abhinav Mukund 81, Virat Kohli 76*, Gunathilaka 1/15).

Sri Lanka – 291 all out (Dilruwan Perera 92*, Angelo Mathews 83, Ravindra Jadeja 3/67).