SL v India, 1st Test, Day 2 as it happened: India restrict Sri Lanka to 154/5 after posting 600

India’s bowlers complemented the batsmen well to put their side on top at the end of Day 2 of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle on Thursday.

Chasing India’s imposing total of 600, India’s bowlers restricted the hosts to 154/5. The top-order could hardly form any resistence against the pacers. Shami picked up two wickets, while Umesh Yadav chipped in with one. Ashwin bowled exceptionally well, and came away with the crucial wicket of Upul Tharanga, who was batting well on 64.

India’s were electric in the field as well. Abhinav Mukund’s close-in effort helped the side pick up two wickets that helped India make significant progress to take complete control of the match.

Earlier, Nuwan Pradeep got a six-wicket haul and was the standout bowler with figures of 6/132, vital late-order contributions from Ravichandran Ashwin (47), Hardik Pandya (50 on debut) and Mohammed Shami (30) took India to their total. Pandya, on debut, looked his typically belligerent self, not afraid to take on the bowlers and pulling them away in a sprightly partnership with Shami.

As it happened:

5.20pm: At stumps, Sri Lanka 154/5 in 44 overs. Mathews 54*, Dilruwan 6*.
India on top. They produced an all-round game and dominated the hosts with the bat, ball and in the field. Kohli’s ploy of using pace and spin at either end worked wonders as Sri Lanka’s top-order failed to form much resistance. Only three wickets had fallen on Day 1. Thursday saw 12 wickets fall as the wicket began breaking up.

5.06pm: FIFTY for Mathews! Sri Lanka 147/5 in 41 overs. Mathews 53*, Dilruwan 0*.
Mathews trudges along even as wickets fall around him. He moves onto 53 off 84 balls. India, though, are firmly in control of the game. For Sri Lanka’s sake, Mathews needs to form a partnership soon.

5.00pm: WICKET! Ashwin gets his first wicket. Mukund plucks out an incredible catch at silly-point. Dickwella 8 (c Mukund b Ashwin). Sri Lanka 143/5 in 39.2 overs.
Ashwin defeats the batsman in drift. He’s left searching for the ball and can only manage an edge. Mukund is sharp on his feet. He dives to his right to pick up a low catch. Mukund has now had a hand in two dismissals so far.

4.42pm: WICKET! Tharanga 64 (run-out Mukund/Saha). Sri Lanka 125/4 in 34 overs.
A soft dismissal. Tharanga takes a few steps down the ground off Ashwin, but hits it straight to silly-point where a sharp Abhinav Mukund was quick to throw it to keeper Saha, who dislodges the bails even as Tharanga tries to come back in the crease. Saha makes a quiet appeal, which is sent upstairs. The bat bounces up and he is short of the crease. India get an unlikely third wicket for the session. The wicket bring to an end a 57-run partnership between Tharanga and Mathews.

4.28pm: Sri Lanka 114/3 in 28 overs. Tharanga 60*, Angelo Mathews 32*
Ashwin has a huge appeal. Mathews is struck on the pads. The umpire does not feel there is much there. Kohli, though, asks for a review. The ball hits the pad in front of the stump, but there is a bit of a bounce and the tracker shows it would have hit the top of the stumps. But, its deemed to be the on-field umpire’s call. Kohli is not pleased by the look of things.
No wicket yet, but the steady partnership between Tharanga and Mathews is looking shaky at the moment.

4.20pm: Sri Lanka 113/3 in 27 overs. Tharanga 59*, Angelo Mathews 32*
Spin from both ends now. Kohli hands Jadeja the ball for the first time in the match. The left-arm spinner hits the ground running. Puts Mathews under pressure. Goes past the edge a couple of times.

4.10pm: Sri Lanka 109/3 in 25 overs. Tharanga 57*, Angelo Mathews 31*

Mathews gets a few quick runs in. Takes the hosts past 100 with a boundary and six off Umesh Yadav. But, they are hardly in control of things here. Other than a few mis-fields, India are dictating terms. Ashwin is bowling exceptionally well. Skipper Kohli using the pacers at the other end to keep Sri Lanka in check.

3.53pm: Sri Lanka 79/3. Tharanga 55*, Angelo Mathews 3*
India on top. Using pace and spin at either end. Tharanga leading Sri Lanka’s resistance, but desperately needs support from the other end. Hosts still trail by 521 runs.

3.35pm: Sri Lanka 72/3. Tharanga 52*, Angelo Mathews 0*
Despite the wickets at the other end, Tharanga motors on. Completes his half-century. He’s taken just 46 balls to reach the mark.

3.33pm: Sri Lanka 68/3. Kusal Mendis 0 (c Dhawan b Shami); Tharanga 48*
Shami strikes again. Second wicket in the over. This time gets Mendis to edge one to first slip straight to Dhawan at first slip.

3.25pm: Sri Lanka 68/2. Gunathilaka 16 (c Dhawan b Shami); Tharanga 48*
India strike. Shami gets Gunathilaka to edge one to first slip where Shikhar Dhawan picks up a comfortable catch. Gunathilaka chases a ball which was pitched wide. He slashes hard, but does not connect well. Mendis joins Tharanga in the middle.

3.20pm: Sri Lanka 57/1. Tharanga 39*, Gunathilaka 14*

India come close to picking up the second wicket. Tharanga gets lucky twice. First, Pujara’s throw at the stumps misses narrowly. Later, a leading edge goes through the gap between wicket-keeper and first slip.

03.07: Welcome back. An over each from Ashwin and Umesh....successfully kept out by Sri Lanka. They are 43/1.

02.40 pm: Upul Tharanga has nailed three gorgeous drives, all on the off side, off Umesh Yadav. Wonderful touch. And then he ferociously swipes at Shami and gets another boundary. At tea, Sri Lanka reach 38/1. Tharanga is 24 off 14 with 5 boundaries, Gunathilaka is 12 off 19.

02.30 pm: Ten minutes till tea and Sri Lanka haven’t lost another wicket. Yet. Small things. Two boundaries from Gunathilaka off Shami. 20/1.

More on that terrible review from Karunaratne:

But Umesh has just been a superior bowler against the batsman:

02.16 pm: Sri Lanka’s innings has resumed and Umesh has struck early! Karunaratne is struck plumb in front, does a desperate review. He is gone, hook, line and sinker! Sri Lanka are 7/1.

Talking about that Indian innings, who would have thought we’d see this?

02.00 pm: And then he’s gone. Went for another pull, didn’t middle it...and Kumar gets his third. India are 600 all out. Great hitting from Pandya for his 49-ball 50.

The third highest total in Galle:

And 2nd-highest total for India in Lanka:

01.55 pm: Half-century on debut from Pandya. Typically Pandya knock....intimidating, explosive, five boundaries, three sixes. Sri Lanka are leaking runs now, India are past 600 now. 600/9, highest total by an away team in first innings of a Test in SL.

01.37 pm: Finally, the short ball pays off. But it cost Sri Lanka 62 runs. Kumara gives another short ball, Shami pulls and this time, he picks out the fielder in the deep. He goes for an enjoyable 30-ball 30. India 579/9.

Shami will be quite kicked about that innings...as he should..

01.30 pm: Whew. Shami and Pandya have decided to go swinging. Five sixes between them later, their partnership is 55 off 40 balls. India are 572/8. 600 coming up?

01.15 pm: India are now 555/8 and this is now their highest score in Sri Lanka in the first innings of a Test. There’s been some big shots lately...Pandya looking to make a move on with some thundering pulls for four and six and even Shami stepping up and spanking Herath over his head twice for two sixes!

The Pandya brothers do things together...

01.00 pm: Pradeep gets six! What bowling. Hustles Jadeja with a short ball, delivers a rip-stinging yorker that takes out middle stump. He goes for 15, India are 517/8. One-man army so far for the Lankans.

That wicket will make SL happy because they were doing it all wrong so far...Rangana Herath got Pandya to edge...but Karunaratne shelved a sitter at first slip. The second dropped catch of the innings. The lion-hearted Pradeep went short, Pandya got the top-edge, but went for four behind the batter. Then Dickwella gave away a bye.

12.45 pm: We’re underway after lunch, Jadeja drills a boundary through covers and India are 508/7.

By the way, Jadeja and Pandya haven’t run each other out...yet.

Some thoughts on that last session:

12.05 pm: And we are at lunch on Day 2. India 503/7, scored 104 runs in that session with 27 overs. But Sri Lanka will be very happy to take four wickets in the morning. Nuwan Pradeep the standout with a fifer.

While you have lunch, why not read this lovely piece on sports and depression?

And if you want something lighter...we promise you it can’t get lighter than this.

Want more entertainment? Here’s an example of Pujara’s longevity!

11.55 am: Nuwan Pradeep has a five-wicket haul! Dismisses Ashwin for 47 with the short ball. The sole star of this Lankan bowling display. India 495/7.

11.50 am: And now Saha is dismissed. Throws it away. Down the ground, wants to biff Herath over his head but holes out to mid-on to go for 16. India 491/6.

11.30 am: A few more boundaries and in a flash, Ashwin has moved to 39 off 43 now...India 477/5.

Before the match, he had spoken about how he wasn’t very satisfied with how his batting had shaped up.

“I think I’ve achieved reasonably well with the bat. I do set high benchmarks for myself, I will say I am pretty low on the kind of average I would have liked to have because at one point, I started at around 42-43 and probably today I’m around 33. I think I could have done a lot better...with a little bit of tennis elbow issues, it did pull me down a little bit as a Test batsman but yes I think, the graph is on the way back.”  

11.13 am: Ravichandran Ashwin came in at Pujara’s wicket, ahead of Hardik Pandya, and he’s not let Sri Lanka celebrate. Brilliant cover drives, using his feet and he’s already brought up India’s 450. He’s currently 27 off 30 and India are 459/5.

10.53 am: That’s Test cricket for you. Lahiru Kumara was hammered to all parts of the ground yesterday. First ball of Day 2, he gets Ajinkya Rahane to edge to slip where Karunaratne takes a sharp catch. Rahane goes for 57, India 432/5.

10.35 am: GONE! It’s Pradeep again, peach of a delivery. Good length, late swing, just nudges Pujara’s edge. He is gone for 153. A typical Pujara knock, strong and understated. India 423/4.

10.30 am: And Pujara brings up his 150 with a nudge down leg. Sixth score of 150 for the man. The Daddy Hundred player, isn’t he? Sri Lanka have also wasted a review when Herath beat his edge. India 421/3.....and let’s bask in the Pujara praise.

Rahane has also brought up his 50 with a commanding shot down the ground against Herath.

10.05 am: Very usual, easy start from India. Five runs from the first over and they bring up their 400. 404/3.

The coach is happy about his Shikki boy!

And why won’t he be? Dhawan has joined quite the league of legends...

9.50 am: Sri Lanka cannot win. Harsha Bhogle has said. Bit discomfiting for them, no?

The Cheteshwar show should also be lauded:

9.30 am: More of the same? Probably. Any hope that Sri Lanka might have had after they dismissed Virat Kohli for just three was quickly snuffed out by Rahane and Pujara who looked better and better in their unbroken 113-run partnership.

Yesterday though was only about one man:

Some would say he’s fate’s golden child, considering he wasn’t even meant to be in the island.

“I would have been in Melbourne with my family, if I had not been here. As it is, I was holidaying in Hong Kong on my way to Australia when I got the call. Sadly Vijay was injured. Perhaps it was my destiny to come and play here.”

Hardik Pandya also made his Test debut yesterday, another affirmation of how much the captain believes in his abilities.