SL v IND, 2nd Test, Day 3 Review: Sri Lanka fight back following-on

No one better than the Indians know what a fight back in the follow-on innings can do. It was Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman who made history in the 2001 Test at Kolkata against the Aussies and to a greater extent that changed a lot of things in Indian cricket. They were both recognized named by that time whereas Kusal Mendia and Dimuth Karunaratne aren’t but the reply they put up on day 3 of the 2nd Test certainly has forced the Indians to go back to the drawing board and chalk out better strategies.

The ball that looped, spun and bounced like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja wanted it to in the first inning suddenly wasn’t doing as much. Though there was an odd unplayable delivery that rattled the batsmen, they were focused enough to get over it before the next ball was bowled. Sri Lanka were below ordinary at the start of the day but drew a courageous picture for themselves by the end of it.

Resuming at 50/2 in 20 overs all they managed to deal with was another 29.4 overs before being bowled out. Ashwin got his 26th five-wicket haul in Tests as the Lankan batsmen never really figured out a way to deal with him. He was smart to let the pitch do most of it and mixed up his deliveries exceptionally to keep the batsmen guessing.

Using the seam, the shiny side and the drift he altered his pace to pose a question every time the batsmen faced him. Jadeja bowled at his usual pace in the high 90 kmph and the ball took off pitching just around the bat and left the batsmen with no option but to wonder if there was anything in their prowess to play those balls. With 2 wickets in the first innings, he also completed 150 Test wickets; the second fastest Indian to the mark behind only his spin twin.

If it wasn’t for Niroshan Dickwella’s lone half century they would’ve fell worse but more than that, the lack of temperament by their batters hurt their cause. The contribution of the Indian seamers both Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami cannot be denied either as they picked 3 wickets amongst them in just 11 overs. They complemented the spinners well and were right on the money despite being used for just about 1/5th of the total overs bowled.

Ist innings trail by 439 runs

After being bowled out 439 runs behind the Indian score and Virat Kohli asked Sri Lanka to follow-on. It looked like the same story would repeat but Mendis and Karunaratne ensured they weren’t treated as mere pushovers. Mendis’ attack ensured Ashwin and Jadeja were off their line more frequently and that allowed him to get the boundaries. He got as many as 17 of those in his knock of 110 from just 135 balls.

He took a leaf out of Wriddhiman Saha’s book but implemented it better than him. The 22-year-old used the sweep shot to attack the spinners and it brought him 42 runs. Mendis rolled his wrists into the shot to assure it stayed on the grass and was placed in the gaps. Karunaratne at the other end, supported him to the best of his ability and their 191-run partnership ensured Sri Lanka didn’t crumble in the second innings.

Mendis got to the third Test hundred of his career and the best by far in the 19 matches he has played. As all his four prime bowlers failed to get a breakthrough, skipper Kohli finally brought Hardik Pandya in the attack and he came true to the captain’s word who had called him a wicket-taker. With just 6 overs to go in the day, he sent back Mendis caught behind and it was a huge respite for the Indians.

Karunaratne is batting unbeaten on 92 from 200 balls while the Sri Lankan team still trails by 230 runs. It will be a huge test for them tomorrow morning as the Indian bowlers will be rested and eager to wrap the game up as they need 8 another wickets to grab the series.

Brief Scores:

Ist innings

India- 622/9 decl. (Cheteshwar Pujara  133, Ajinkya Rahane 132; Rangana Herath 4/154)

Sri Lanka- 183/10 (Niroshan Dickwella 51; Ravichandran Ashwin 5/69)

IInd innings

Sri Lanka- 209/2 (Kusal Mendis 110, Dimuth Karunaratne 92*; Hardik Pandya 1/12)