Ind v SL, 1st Test, Review: Indian pacers fire up the game, but it was dead in the dark

The first Test match between India and Sri Lanka ended in a draw as the final day was full of action with the hosts coming ever so close to the victory. The visitors were reduced to 75/7 in the 27th over when the play was stopped due to bad light which has been the case right through this match. Though very few had expected the match to get so close when the day started. The credit should be given to Virat Kohli for his splendid knock which gave the bowlers a shot at the batsmen of the visitors.

The overnight batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara and KL Rahul strode out to the middle on the last day with a lead of 49 runs in their kitty. They would have hoped to score some quick runs and set a target for Sri Lanka. But Suranga Lakmal bowled beautifully and first castled Rahul and then Pujara with a searing delivery which pushed India back. Kohli, after surviving a few close calls settled in nicely but wickets continued to fall around him.

Kohli special gives India a sniff

After lunch, the Indian captain took matters into his hands and slowly upped the run-rate by punishing the bad balls presented by the bowlers. But Dasun Shanaka kept the hosts in check with wickets of Ravichandran Aswin and Wriddhiman Saha. Kohli then realised the need for quick runs and started attacking in order to take the lead beyond 200. In the process, he came close to his own century as more wickets fell from other end. But he was unperturbed and smashed a six over long-off to bring up his 18th Test century which also proved to be his 50th International ton across formats.

Soon after his ton, India declared on 352/8 with a healthy lead of 230 runs and a tricky period for Sri Lanka to go through before tea. Bhuvneshwar Kumar didn’t disappoint the sparse crowd and scalped Sadeera Samarawickrama in the very first over. Mohammed Shami snaffled Dimuth Karunaratne to give the visitors a real scare going into the final session.

All drama in the last hour

It was all about the time when the final session started given the way light faded throughout the match. Indian bowlers were even more hostile as they tried to get under the skin of the Sri Lankan batsmen. The results followed as Lahiru Thirimanne and Angelo Mathews were sent back to the pavilion quickly with the visitors reeling at 22/4. The duo of Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella kept the hosts at bay which at one moment heated the things up in the middle as well.

But there was more drama to follow in the last half an hour with wickets falling and light fading. Bhuvneshwar was absolutely unplayable with his line and lengths as Shami bowled a searing yorker to dismiss Chandimal. But unfortunately, for India, the light fading fast than the Sri Lankan wickets and umpires decided to call stumps with the scoreboard reading 75/7 for the team from the island nation.

Bhuvi ended with the magical figures of 4/8 as he was assisted well by Shami and Umesh Yadav. For a change, Indian spinners had no role to play in the match at all which saw almost all the overs bowled by the seamers. For Sri Lanka, Suranga Lakmal was excellent with seven wickets in the match. But he wasn’t supported by any other bowler which made the difference on the final day. The fans though witnessed a thriller which very few expected when the day started and moreover, Sri Lanka had a greater chance to win.

Brief Scores

India 172 (C Pujara 52; S Lakmal 4/26) & 352/8decl (V Kohli 104*; D Shanaka 3/76)

Sri Lanka 294 (R Herath 67; B Kumar 4/88) & 75/7 (N Dickwella 27; B Kumar 4/8)

Man of the Match Bhuvneshwar Kumar