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Ravindra Jadeja broke a stubborn partnership between Dhananjaya de Silva and Sonal Dinusha to reduce Sri Lanka to 175 for six at lunch on the fifth and final day of the first Test on Wednesday, leaving India within touching distance of victory.
Chasing a daunting 372 for victory, Sri Lanka began the day at 84 for four, with Dinusha and De Silva at the crease. The overnight pair frustrated India for more than an hour, adding 95 runs from 202 balls.
De Silva scored 59 off 151 balls, while Dinusha, who made a century in Sri Lanka’s first innings, reached 65. The pair frequently used the sweep shot to counter India’s spinners.
Jadeja was the most effective of India’s spinners, extracting useful bounce and turn from the surface. Manav Suthar also looked sharp despite bowling relatively few overs, while Kuldeep Yadav struggled to make an impact on the abrasive pitch.
De Silva reached his half-century from 125 balls, with Dinusha following soon after. Dinusha brought up his fifty in style, hitting Kuldeep for a slog-swept six.
Jadeja, however, eventually broke the partnership by finding a way through De Silva’s defence. The left-arm spinner generated extra bounce, prompting De Silva to top-edge a sweep to Suthar at short fine leg.
Niroshan Dickwella, who had played a sensible innings in Sri Lanka’s first innings, then appeared intent on attacking the remaining runs. After attempting a couple of slog sweeps against Kuldeep and Jadeja, he fell to Prasidh Krishna.
Trying to clear the covers after making room, Dickwella edged the ball to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
Dinusha and Keshara Nuwantha, who was unbeaten on eight at lunch, then survived the final 30 minutes of the session to keep Sri Lanka’s hopes alive.
With four wickets still needed, India will look to wrap up the match in the second session.
