KOLKATA TEST

Indian openers, Lanka lower order thrive on friendly wicket

  • K.L. Rahul thrived on the batsmen-friendly wicket which boasted of nice bounce and carry | Salil Bera
  • Bhuvneshwar Kumar scalped four wickets in a fine bowling spell | Salil Bera
  • Rangana Herath scored the highest run for Sri Lanka | Salil Bera

The 25,000-strong Sunday crowd was served an intense day of Test cricket which saw the fate of the match swing from a definite result to a highly likely draw on day four of the Kolkata Test between India and Sri Lanka. Playing for time and a handy lead, the Lankan tail wagged long and hard enough to ensure the visitors would get a good chance to draw the match.

Aided by a wicket which had eased out under the bright sun, the Sri Lankan lower order withstood some very incisive and hostile fast bowling from Indian seamers to chalk up a 112-run lead in its first innings response. Most importantly, the resistance lasted long enough to ensure there was only so much for time left in the match for a draw to be the most viable possibility. The last three Lankan wickets scored 93 runs in 63 minutes.

In response, Indian openers K.L. Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan also thrived on the batsmen-friendly wicket which boasted of nice bounce and carry. Dhawan fell 6 runs short of his 7th Test century in fading light, Dasun Shanaka forcing the faintest of edges to get him caught behind by Niroshan Dickwella at 94. The duo put a 166-run opening stand. At stumps, India were 171-1 in 29.3 overs with Rahul on 73* and Cheteshwar Pujara on 2*, with a 49-run lead in the second innings.

As of now, a draw is the most likely result unless India decides to up its ante and amass a sizeable total in the first session for Lanka to chase in the two remaining sessions of last day.

The Lankan innings folded up at 294 much thanks to a 62-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickewella, and another more crucial one for the 9th wicket between Rangana Herath and Suranga Lakmal lasting 56 minutes. Herath's cameo of 62 runs proved vital in ensuring that it was Lanka that took the honours in an evenly balanced match on day 4.

It was a memorable day for Indian pace bowling department too with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4-88) and Mohammed Shami (4-100) did the major damage with Umesh Yadav chipping in with 2-79 to take all Lankan wickets in the first innings.

This is the first time since 1983 and third time overall at home in Indian Test cricket history that all 10 wickets in an innings were taken by Indian seamers. The first time Indians seamers bagged all 10 wickets between them was in 1982 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai against England with the honours being shared by Kapil Dev and Madan Lal. Then in 1983 against West Indies in Ahmedabad where in Kapil Dev took 9 wickets and Balwinder Singh Sandhu 1! Indian spin duo Ravichandran Ashwin (8) and Ravindra Jadeja (1) bowled only 9 overs between them.

Earlier, incisive fast bowling from Indian pacers saw Sri Lanka losing four wickets in the morning session with the visitors accumulated 91 runs in their first innings. Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked three and one wicket respectively but some stubborn resistance from the Sri Lankan lower order thwarted India's plans of wrapping up the Lankan innings quickly.

Mohammed Shami, who was unlucky to have not taken a wicket despite bowling a very fine spell of seam and swing bowling yesterday evening, was the pick of the Indian pacers as he took three wickets in the first session and was almost unplayable most of the time. It was in that phase when Kumar and Shami combined to come up with some seriously hostile bowling that Lanka lost three wickets in the space of 9 balls.

The first one to go was that of overnight batsman Niroshan Dickwella (35) as he edged a Shami delivery packed with bounce, pace and swing to Virat Kohli in the slips. Dickwella and Dinesh Chandimal had added 62 runs for the fifth wicket. Four balls later, it was Dasun Shanaka who fell leg before to an inswinger from Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a duck. Five balls laterm, Sri Lankan skipper Dinesh Chandimal on 28 edged an outswinger from Shami to wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha.

The fourth wicket of Dilruwan Perera was Shami's third, totally unplayable and an absolute beauty―an outswinger but this came after Perera survived a close DRS call for leg before at 0 which he survived earlier and a vigil that lasted 74 minutes even though he just scored 5 in 34 balls. 

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