Sri Lanka v India 2nd Test Day 4: 5 Talking points

Sri Lanka v India 2^nd Test Day 4: 5 Talking points: Day 4 of the 2nd Test between Sri Lanka and India came to an end with the Lankans at 72/2 chasing a mammoth 413 to win. The hosts lost Silva early while Sangakkara failed to deliver in his last outing for Sri Lanka. India declared an hour into the final session of the fourth day, leaving the hosts with almost 4 sessions to achieve the target.

Murali Vijay who failed to perform in the first innings scored 82. Ajinkya Rahane however, stole the show with his commendable 126. The Sri Lankan bowling line up didn’t perform to expectations except for two bowlers, Dhammika Prasad and Tharindu Kaushal, who lead the attack with four wickets each.

Here are 5 talking points of the 4th day’s play:

1. Ajinkya Rahane’s ton:

Ajinkya Rahane went on to play an innings that gave India a pole position at tea. With his fourth Test ton Rahane provided India a platform they could work upon. Murali Vijay and Rohit Sharma contributed in his march to stretch the Indian innings to effectively finish with a lead of 413. Rahane played a calm innings and also kept the scoring-rate up for the Indian side. His 126 came off 243 deliveries which included 10 boundaries. Rahane was sent back to the pavilion by Tharindu Kaushal when Chandimal took a brilliant catch behind the wicket.

2. Rahane-Vijay Partnership:

Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane came together and stitched a crucial partnership of 140 runs, continuing Indian dominance on the 4^th day of the 2^nd Test. After Rahul was dismissed early yesterday, India needed someone to take charge to keep the scoreboard ticking. Vijay and Rahane stepped up to the responsibility of trying to build a healthy lead for India. Vijay’s 82 gave them the much-needed composure while Rahane was at his fluent best. The duo kept the balance between striking and playing it calm, thus troubling the Sri Lankan bowlers during their stay at the crease.

3. Sri Lankan bowling attack:

Except Dhammika Prasad and Tharindu Kaushal, who shared all the eight wickets that fell in India’s 2^nd innings, the entire bowling attack of the hosts failed miserably. Prasad and Kaushal were the lone contributors as all the other bowlers failed to create any impact. Hearth was particularly disappointing while the pacers didn’t get any assistance from the track.

4. Ashwin-Sangakkara tiff continues:

Ravichandran Ashwin for the fourth time in the two Tests took the wicket of Kumar Sangakkara. The retiring legend was to be seen in Lankan colours for the last time today as he misread one from Ashwin to bring curtains on a glorius 15 year cricket career. Contrary to expectations, Sanga lost his wicket early without scoring big and the the P Sara Oval stood up to salute him as he bid the final good bye.

5. The wickets of Sanga and Silva:

The tourists will be looking to end the Sri Lankan innings as soon as possible with just one more day to go. The hosts are struggling with their opening partnership in the series and again lost an early wicket in the form of Kaushal Silva (1), whose fifty in the last innings came as a relief to the Sri Lankan side. His wicket was followed by Sangakkara who also went cheaply after scoring 18. Sri Lankan scoreboard reading 72/2 in 21 overs, brought the day to its fold with India holding the edge.