Twitter Reactions: Kusal Mendis and Dimuth Karunaratne lead the revival act against India

The 3rd Day of the second Test saw both the teams have their share of highs and lows. Team India started the day dominantly with the ball as they restricted the Sri Lankans to a mere total of 183 runs. Falling 439 runs short of India’s first inning score, an ecstatic Virat Kohli decided to go for the finisher by handing the hosts with a follow on. India’s most prolific spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked up a five wicket haul shutting down his critics in the most appropriate way. This was a much-needed success for the bowler after he was heavily criticised after the ICC Champions Trophy.

Sri Lankan second innings:

Though Virat Kohli and his men looked to seal the deal as soon as possible, the Sri Lankans were not going down without a fight. Despite losing Upul Tharanga early the Lions put up a valiant batting performance to end the day’s play. Star batsman Kusal Mendis and opener Dimuth Karunaratne gelled brilliantly to give the Indians a taste of what Rahane and Pujara did to them. Kusal Mendis was flawless in his 110 run knock as he thumped the Sri Lankan crest after reaching the century mark. Karunaratne played a brilliant supporting act as he remained not out till the end scoring 92 runs facing a whopping 200 balls.

The comeback made by the Sri Lankans are worth a million praise as the batsmen showed guts and character to revive the innings. The scorecard stood at 209 runs at the loss of 2 wickets with Karunaratne and Malinda Pushpakumara at the crease. It was a cunning decision from Dinesh Chandimal as he sent in Pushpakumara as the night watchman with the responsibility of hanging on for the remaining part of the day. It is believed that the captain wanted to avoid a loss of a crucial wicket in the last hour of play. Here is how the Twitterati reacted to the action packed Day-3: