On a dry wicket, with a history of crumbing on the last few days, Angelo Mathews didn’t have any hesitation to bat first, but he didn’t know he would have to walk in as early as the 12 over. By that time, Sri Lanka were three down for just 27 runs, with Ishant Sharma, Varun Aaron and Ravichandran Ashwin sharing the wickets. Mathews did his best to retrieve his side out of the trouble with a fighting 64, but Sri Lanka’s first innings ended at 183, with Ashwin returning with 6 for 46.

 

But it was Ishant who set the tone with a spell of bristling intensity. As opposed to the sometimes wayward self, Ishant was all fire and brimstone, pitching the ball mostly outside the off stump and short of length. He purchased extra bounce from the same length, which made unsettled their openers, Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva. The later was especially edgy, and was reprieved by Shikhar Dhawan at first slip off Aaron.

 

But it was the relatively settled Karunaratne who got out first, taking his eyes off a short-pitched ball while trying to defend. The ball popped up for Ajinkya Rahane to complete an easy catch. At the same score next over, Kaushal too perished, attempting a hook to a delivery that cramped him for room.

 

That brought to the middle Kumar Sangakkara, welcomed by crackers from the Galle Fort end. But he lasted only 12 balls, as he was snared by a vigilant KL Rahul, who gave a good account of his reflexes and adeptness at fielding close. By that time, Ishant completed his fiery first spell that read 7-2-7-1.

 

Thereafter, Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne offered resistance, through a blend of flat batting and aggressive strokes. Aaron, who was largely impressive in his first spell, couldn’t sustain his control and leaked the occasional boundary ball. But Ashwin ended their defiance by exiting Thirimanne. It was a classical off spinner’s dismissal, the ball drawing the batsman to the forward defensive and taking the edge to the slipsman. In his next over, he ejected Jehan Mubarak. On this instance, it was his extra bounce that accounted for Mubarak, to push Sri Lanka to a precarious 65 for 5 at lunch.   

 

Soon after lunch, the hosts survived a scare, as Wriddhiman Saha spilled a sitter off Dinesh Chandimal, who went on to make 59. With a copious amount of luck, they saw through most of session, before Ashwin dismissed Mathews, courtesy a sharp catch by Rohit Sharma at short-leg. Together, they added 79 runs, Sri Lanka’s best of the match.

 

The lower-order batsmen wilted under pressure, as Amit Mishra and Ashwin ran through them, the former picking up two wickets and the latter registering the best figures by an Indian bowler in Sri Lanka.

(The New Indian Express)