IND v SL, 3rd Test, Day 3 Review: India face a sturdy Lankan fightback led by Chandimal and Mathews

Centuries from Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews helped Sri Lanka pose a strong challenge and this made India work really hard. In reply to a commanding 536 posted by the hosts, the visitors lost a couple of early wickets on day 2 and just before the end of the second day, they lost their third and it seemed like a matter of time before India would wrap up the series.

But as it turned out, former skipper Angelo Mathews and current skipper Dinesh Chandimal led a magnificent fightback. This was the best people have seen of Mathews in quite a long time now and the promising all-rounder killed all the critics, who suggested he should be out of the side, with a mouth-shutting reply coming from his willow.

It was peculiar to not bring in Ravichandran Ashwin right from the outset on day 3. But Virat Kohli had some tactics in mind, which eventually didn’t work. Chandimal and Mathews got to their respective centuries and though the bowlers kept hitting brilliant channels, they showed great determination and a resolute technique.

Mathews got his 8th hundred with a boundary off Ishant Sharma with a beautiful flick. This also was his first century after 12 months and this must’ve meant a great deal to the talismanic all-rounder, who has been going through a horrible phase. Chandimal too got there and he became the fastest amongst Lankan cricketers to score 10 Test match centuries, beating the likes of Jayawardene, Samaraweera, and Sangakkara on his way.

Ashwin comes in; Strikes right away

With the Indian players complaining about the condition of the ball, the Umpires had to change it and the first beneficiary of the replaced ball was Ashwin. Much to the delight of the Indian skipper, he struck right away. Angelo Mathews’ splendid concentration levels finally curbed as the best off-spinner in the world gave India a lifeline. Mathews was dismissed for a not very fluent, but well worked out 111 off 268 balls.

Sadeera Samarawickrama was cleared by the medical department to bat after getting struck by Murali Vijay’s pull shot whilst fielding at short-leg. He played some exquisite shots and accompanied Chandimal brilliantly. The duo added 61 runs for the fifth wicket and things seemed to be going well for the Lankans. But then came a twist in the tale that shifted the game into India’s balance.

Quick wickets propel India into a dominant position

The Mathews-Chandimal stand did scare the Indians for a long time, but they would never have expected to finish in the driver’s seat at the end of the day. That is exactly what happened as the spinners were breathing fire, especially Ashwin.

After Samarawickrama, debutant Roshen Silva bat-padded it straight to forward short-leg and was dismissed for a duck. Dickwella followed the suit as he misread a top-spinner from Ashwin and got bamboozled, which took his stumps for a ride. Kohli brought Mohammad Shami into the attack and he sent Lakmal back-peddling towards the dressing room. Jadeja provided the final assault of the day as he caught Gamage napping in front of the stumps and was adjudged LBW.

Chandimal nevertheless kept going and plunged the tired Indian bowlers to attack. In the process, he struck a few crucial boundaries, which managed to reduce the deficit to under 200. Sri Lanka finished at 356 in 130 overs with one wicket left and Chandimal remained unbeaten on 147 off 341 balls. They trail the hosts by 180 runs and to even pull off a stalemate from this point would be a great achievement.

Brief Scores

India first innings: 536/7 declared in 127.5 overs

Sri Lanka first innings: 356/9 in 130 overs (Angelo Mathews 111, Dinesh Chandimal 147*; Ravichandran Ashwin 3/90, Ravindra Jadeja 3/85)