Dhruv Jurel dominated proceedings on Day 2 at the SSC in Colombo, before rain played spoilsport towards the latter part of the day to curtail the day’s proceedings. But before the rain, it was all about Dhruv Jurel’s solidity and stoic in defence as his superlative second Test ton put India in complete control of the second Test whereby a Sri Lanka win can be ruled out of the equation. Rishabh Pant came back and played well for his half-century and others chipped in as India reached 503/9 declared in 138 overs.
It was a hard day for Sri Lanka as their bowlers in particular their spinners struggled for control. The only silver-lining for them was the performance of their pace spearhead Asitha Fernando where under unhelpful conditions, he picked up 4 wickets and Lahiru Kumara bowled well as well. But unfortunately, the spinners were below par and later they lost 2 wickets in 3 overs to be on the back foot at the end of the day’s play. India in a position to dictate terms now.
Dhruv Jurel & Rishabh Pant solidifies India’s position in the morning session
Dhruv Jurel and Saransh Jain came out to resume proceedings for India while Lahiru Kumara had the ball in hand for Sri Lanka. Kumara conceded a wide but bowled a decent first over. Asitha Fernando had the ball in hand from the other end. He struck straightaway as he removed Saransh Jain for 6 off 8 balls with one four to his name as he squared the batter up and Mishara took a good catch at the gully region. Rishabh Pant returned to bat on his score of 3*.
Kumara continued and bowled a tight over. Asitha too kept things under check. Pant then broke the shackles as he took on Kumara and hooked him over deep fine leg for the maximum into the roof. Pant completed 2000 runs for India batting at number 5. Keshara Nuwantha came into the attack next and he bowled a decent over. Kumara continued as Jurel creamed the ball past mid-on for a boundary. Nuwantha bowled another decent over.
Asitha changed ends as Pant almost chopped it back onto the stumps but the ball missed the stumps by a whisker. Nuwantha continued as the ball turned away and beat everyone for 4 byes as bonus to the batting team. Fernando continued and bowled another probing over. Nuwantha continued as Pant took him on with a paddle sweep past fine leg for a boundary and then swept it past deep fine leg for another boundary. The 350 came up for India in 96.4 overs. India reached 354/6 in 97 overs as we paused for Drinks in the morning session.
Asitha Fernando continued after the break as Jurel shuffled across and pulled it past deep fine leg for a boundary. The 50-run stand came up between the two players. Nuwantha continued as Jurel skipped down the track and swung across the line past long-on for a boundary. Prabath Jayasuriya came into the attack next and bowled a decent over. Nuwantha continued as Pant looked to defend and got the outside edge past the slips and away to the third man fence for a boundary.
Jayasuriya continued as Jurel survived a close LBW shout. The umpire said no, the Lankans did not review and replays showed umpire’s call as the ball clipped the leg stump. Had he reviewed, the review would not have been lost by Sri Lanka. But they chose not to. Jayasuriya bowled a decent over. Nuwantha continued and bowled a decent over. Jayasuriya continued as Jurel clipped the ball past short midwicket for a triple. Pant got into the act as he came down the track and lofted it over the bowler’s head for a boundary down the ground.
Nuwantha continued and bowled a decent over. Jayasuriya bowled a tight over as well. Nuwantha delivered a maiden. Jayasuriya bowled a decent over next. Nuwantha continued as Pant pulled the ball and rolled his wrists in front of square towards the midwicket fence for a boundary and reached his 21st Test fifty in 81 balls. Jayasuriya continued as Jurel stayed deep in the crease and pulled it between short midwicket and mid-on for a boundary to reach his 3rd Test fifty as the 400 came up for India in 109.2 overs.
Nuwantha continued as the 100-run stand was reached between Jurel and Pant. Jayasuriya came to bowl the final over before Lunch as Pant picked the length early and pulled it towards square leg for a boundary. Pant then jumped down the track and launched the ball over wide long-on for the maximum. India reached 419/6 in 112 overs with Jurel unbeaten on 59 off 107 balls alongside Pant unbeaten on 63 off 88 balls as the players left the field for Lunch on Day 2.
Rishabh Pant falls immediately after Lunch; Dhruv Jurel’s unbeaten 95 drives India forward in a truncated afternoon session
Dhruv Jurel and Rishabh Pant came to resume proceedings for India while Keshara Nuwantha had the ball in hand for Sri Lanka. Nuwantha struck first ball as Pant gave it away as he miscued the ball towards long-off where Lahiru Udara completed the catch. Manav Suthar came out to bat next. A wicket maiden to start the afternoon session as Asitha Fernando took the ball from the other end. He bowled a decent over.
Nuwantha continued as Jurel got a lifeline with Kamindu Mendis dropping a sharp chance at leg slip. Suthar got into the act as he played a square drive past backward point for a boundary. Fernando continued as Jurel whipped across the line and went along the ground to the vacant square leg fence for a boundary. Nuwantha bowled a maiden. Fernando too kept things under check.
Nuwantha continued and overstepped as well. Suthar then took him on and launched the bowler down the ground over the bowler’s head for one bounce and over the ropes. Lahiru Kumara came back into the attack next and bowled a decent over. Keshara too kept things tight. Kumara continued as the 450 came up for India in 122 overs. Prabath Jayasuriya came back into the attack next and he bowled a decent over. Kumara continued as Suthar clipped the ball through midwicket for a triple.
Jayasuriya continued and provided Sri Lanka the breakthrough as he dismissed Suthar for 18 off 51 balls with 2 fours to his name as the edge was taken sharply by Niroshan Dickwella. India were 458/8 in 124.4 overs when Drinks was called onto the field after which Mohammed Siraj joined Jurel in the middle. Sonal Dinusha came into the attack next and he bowled a tight over as well. Jayasuriya continued and bowled a tight over.
Dinusha continued as Jurel reverse swept him past backward point for a boundary. Jayasuriya continued and kept it tight. Fernando continued and delivered a wide ball over the head of the batter. Jayasuriya continued and kept things under check. Asitha continued as Jurel shuffled across and clipped it past long-on for a boundary as he reached 95*. India reached 475/8 in 131.2 overs when rain started to fall and covers were called into the ground with Jurel unbeaten on 95* and Siraj with him on 0*. The session ended as Early Tea was taken.
Jurel’s second Test ton powers India past 500; Sri Lanka lose 2 before the close of play in another rain-affected session
After a long wait, play finally resumed at 4:25 PM IST for the final session of the day with Jurel batting on 95* resuming alongside Siraj batting on 0*. Asitha Fernando had to complete the over. Jurel moved to 99* by the time the over ended. Prabath Jayasuriya took the ball from the other end. He bowled a maiden. Fernando continued and bowled a tight over as Jurel stayed on 99*. Jayasuriya bowled a maiden to Siraj.
Fernando continued and after a long wait, Jurel got a risky single as the direct hit was missed at the bowler’s end as the keeper batter reached his second Test ton and first away from home in 171 balls. Jurel then took on Fernando to launch it down the ground over long-on for the maximum. Jayasuriya finally got a wicket as Siraj looked to heave and missed and was adjudged LBW. He reviewed in hope and burnt it for India. Siraj went for 3 off 29 balls. Prasidh Krishna came out to bat next.
Fernando continued as Jurel shuffled across and pulled it over long leg for the maximum. Fernando overstepped while Krishna came on strike and leaned into the drive through the covers for a boundary as the 500 came up for India in 138 overs. As soon as the milestone was achieved, Shubman Gill called his players in as India declared at 503/9 in 138 overs. Jurel remained unbeaten on 115 off 177 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes to his name while Krishna was unbeaten on 4 off 7 balls with a boundary to his name. 21 extras given by the fielding side.
For Sri Lanka, the pick of the bowlers was Asitha Fernando who finished with 4/106 in 29 overs. Lahiru Kumara bowled decently for his 1/68 in 20 overs. Prabath Jayasuriya finished with 2/132 in 42 overs. Keshara Nuwantha finished with 2/154 in 38 overs. Sonal Dinusha bowled 3 overs for 8 runs. Captain Dhananjaya de Silva bowled 2 overs for 8 runs while Kamil Mishara the debutant bowled 4 overs for 16 runs. Now, it was Sri Lanka’s turn to bat next.
Dark clouds hovered over the ground as Lahiru Udara and debutant Kamil Mishara came out to bat for Sri Lanka while Mohammed Siraj had the ball in hand for India. Siraj bowled two balls as the rain returned and the players rushed off as the covers came onto the ground. We thought that was the end of proceedings, but it was not to be. The conditions improved a bit and the umpires decided to restart the action at 5:35 PM IST. Udara and Mishara were back as Siraj had to complete his over.
Siraj bowled a decent over. Prasidh Krishna then had the ball in hand from the other end. Krishna struck first blood for India as Udara was squared up and got the outside edge towards gully where Yashasvi Jaiswal with the dive pulled off a stunner. Prabath Jayasuriya came out to bat as the night watchman next. He got off the mark soon. India with light fading had to bring in a spinner as Gill turned to Manav Suthar.
Mishara got 5 runs which included an overthrow from Jaiswal to get himself going in Test cricket. In the last ball of the over, Suthar trapped Jayasuriya in front LBW for 2 off 7 balls. The umpire gave it after a while and Jayasuriya reviewed as Umpire’s call on hitting the stumps meant the batter had to go, but the review was retained. Sri Lanka were 8/2 in 3 overs now as the light deteriorated further and play was called off for the day. Mishara the debutant is there on 5* off 5 balls and will be joined by new batter on Day 3 in Pasindu Sooriyabandara. 0 extras by India so far.
Three bowlers used by India in 3 overs. Siraj bowled an over for 1 run. Prasidh Krishna finished the day with 1/1 in 1 over. Manav Suthar finished the day with 1/6 in 1 over. So, Sri Lanka have a mountain to climb as India are on top at the end of Day 2.
What Lies Ahead on Day 3
For starters, we hope that the rain stays away for most parts and we get as much play as possible, as Day 2 was rain affected. Play will start at 9:45 AM IST to try and make up for lost time. As far as the match is concerned, India are well on top after posting 500+ runs and have picked up late Sri Lanka wickets. India’s aim will be to bowl Sri Lanka out cheaply on a turning track and if the opportunity arises, enforce the follow-on. Sri Lanka needs to show a lot of character to come back and maybe draw this game with help from the weather. They cannot win from here for sure.
Let’s see how the moving day i.e. Day 3 pans out for us weather permitting at SSC, in Colombo.
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