Ind vs SL, 1st Test, Day 3 as it happened: India pacers show fight, but Sri Lanka close in on lead

As it happened

At stumps, SL 165/4 after 45.4 overs (Chandimal 13, Dickwella 14*)
Sri Lanka trail India by seven runs after the end of the third day. Rain finally stayed away and we got a riveting day of Test cricket. Bhuvi and Umesh were the stars for India. The former’s early breakthroughs gave India some respite after struggling during their batting effort. Thirimanne and Mathews’ 99-runs stand did frustrate them, but Umesh’s post-tea effort brought the hosts back into the game. Sri Lanka still have their noses as they near parity. India, though, will hope for an encore from their pacers on the fourth day.

SL 165/4 after 45.4 overs (Chandimal 13, Dickwella 14*)
The umpires have offered Sri Lanka the light and the visitors have taken it. The sun is still out, but its dark enough. The players have walked off the field. Sri Lanka still trail India by seven runs.

SL 158/4 after 45 overs (Chandimal 8*, Dickwella 14)
Shami hobbles off the field holding his hamstring. Looks like it’s cramps. He has been in some discomfort through the innings.

SL 150/4 after 43 overs (Chandimal 4*, Dickwella 8*)
After Umesh’s post-Tea heroics, Chandimal and Dickwella have calmed things down as they chip away at the deficit. The ball is swinging, but Sri Lanka have enough batters to take a sizeable lead. India need a few more quick wickets if they want to get on top.

SL 141-4 after 41 overs (Chandimal 2*, Dickwella 1*)
Umesh almost had a third, but the appeal was turned down after a review. A short delivery had Dickwella all tied up. The ball hit the shoulder as it looped into the hands of the keeper.

SL 138/4 after 38.5 overs (Chandimal 1*)
WICKET! Umesh strikes again! Mathews throws his wicket away after reaching his fifty. Umesh has now taken two wickets in ten balls! Mathews drove a delivery that was pitched just short of good length. KL Rahul plucked an easy catch as a close-in cover position. India right back in it.
Angelo Mathews c KL Rahul b Umesh Yadav 52 (94b).

SL 138/3 after 38 overs (Angelo Mathews 52*, Chandimal 1*).
Fifty for Mathews! Even as Thirimanne departed, Mathews has remained resolute. India have their tail up, but SL will want him to keep his gritty knock going.

SL 133-3 after 36 overs (Mathews 48*)
WICKET! Thirimanne falls for 51. Umesh gets him to edge one to the slips where Kohli completes a straightforward catch. Umesh pitches it short. The ball straightens as Thirimanne goes for a drive. The thick edge is picked up early by Kohli standing at second slip. He Throws the balls into the ground to celebrate.
Thirimanne c Kohli b Umesh 51 (94b).

SL 124-2 after 34 overs (Thirimanne 50*, Mathews 40*).
Fifty for Thirimanne! This is his fifth half-century in Test cricket and his first since 2015! He has now added 90 runs along with Mathews for the third wicket.

SL 113-2 after 32 overs (Thirimanne 48, Mathews 31)
A tentative start for Sri Lanka in the post-Tea session. Shami, who was off colour for much of the last session, has come back strong after the break. Starts off with a maiden.

SL 113-2 after 31 overs (Thirimanne 48, Mathews 31)

A great session for Sri Lanka – 31 overs, 113 runs and only 2 wickets lost. India’s bowlers just weren’t good enough on the day. If things continue as they are, India might find themselves fighting to save the match on the last day. It’s tea now.

SL 109-2 after 27 overs (Thirimanne 48, Mathews 27)

Sri Lanka reached their 100 in 25 overs – at better than 4 runs an over. There is still enough in the track for bowlers but Thirimanne and Mathews have displayed great cricketing sense. India’s bowlers have not been accurate enough – they have bowled both sides of the wicket and the sloppy fielding hasn’t exactly helped.

SL 91-2 after 23 overs (Thirimanne 35, Mathews 23)

The partnership is now worth 57 runs and India are clearly being frustrated by their lack of success. Both batsmen are not trying to do too much, they are playing well within themselves. After 23 overs of pace, India are now turning to Ashwin.

SL 74-2 after 18 overs (Thirimanne 31, Mathews 10)

DROPPED! Thirimanne was dropped on 27 by Shikhar Dhawan. It was a simple opportunity but it just didn’t stick. This could be big miss. India are ahead by less than 100 runs now.

SL 56-2 after 15 overs (Thirimanne 18, Mathews 5)

Thirimanne has looked the more comfortable of the two but Mathews is hanging in for now. A beautiful drive through the off-side by Thirimanne also showed that perhaps Bhuvneshwar (in his 8th over) was now beginning to tire. Time for a drinks break.

SL 40-2 after 10 overs (Thirimanne 6, Mathews 1)

Runs have been hard to come by after the initial rush as Sri Lanka looks to consolidate after the loss of the openers. Bhuvi has been making the ball talk while Shami has been getting some disconcerting bounce.

SL 34-2 after 6.4 overs (Thirimanne 2*)

WICKET! Bhuvi strikes again as Sadeera got carried away and played perhaps one to many shots. The ball was probably there for the square but but Sadeera went for the backfoot punch and the resulting edge flew straight to Saha. Great bowling by Bhuvneshwar.

S Samarawickrama c Saha b Kumar 23 (22b)

SL 29-1 after 4.5 overs (Sadeera 20*)

WICKET! And that is the breakthrough, India desperately wanted. Having survived once thanks to the review, this time Karunaratne perishes. He shouldered arms to the ball that was coming in and the umpire gave him out. The review showed that the ball would have crashed into the off-stump. Bhuvi strikes. He departs for 8, Sri Lanka 29/1

Karunaratne lbw b Kumar 8 (15b)

SL 29-0 after 4 overs (Sadeera 20, Karunaratne 8)

Nice quick start by Sri Lanka. The odd ball has gone past the edge, Sahmi had an lbw decision reversed by the third umpire but clearly batting isn’t as difficult as it was on day 1 and day 2. The quick runs will force Kohli to perhaps start thinking defensively as well. It will be interesting to watch how he reacts to the pressure.

SL 8-0 after 1 over (Sadeera 7, Karunaratne 0)

Bhuvneshwar Kumar got the new ball and it seems like the logical decision to make too. He swings the ball both ways and could be deadly on this wicket. The first two balls were taken for 7 runs though. Early wickets will be crucial for India as they have a small total on board.

Lunch taken

Lunch has been taken early at the Eden Gardens. Sri Lanka will come out to bat in the second session. Play to resume at 1205 IST.

India 172 all out (59.3 overs)

And that’s it for India. Shami played a vital innings but his luck finally gave out. He scored 24 off 22 balls. Still 172 might be more than what India would have hoped for given the trouble that they were in.

India 166-9 after 59 overs (Shami 18, Umesh 6)

The current partnership is already up to 20 and the importance of these runs cannot be over-stated. Shami and Umesh are wielding the long handle when the opportunity presents itself but they are still keeping their wits about.

India 146-9 after 56.2 overs (Shami 4*)

WICKET! Bhuvneshwar walking back, Lakmal gets his 4th wicket. It was pretty much unplayable. In the right channel, just outside the off-stump and Bhuvneshwar had to play at it. Good bowling. The movement though will encourage Bhuvi too. India will need a splendid bowling performance to stay in the game.

B Kumar c Dickwella b Lakmal 13 (17b, 1x4)

India 128-8 after 51.2 overs (Bhuvneshwar 0*)

WICKET! When a partnership breaks, it often leads to not just one wicket. The old adage was seen to be true once again. Saha, going for the sweep, managed to get a feather edge onto the ball. The ball bounced off his arm and looped to first slip, who caught it easily. The umpire gave it out but Saha went for the review. No luck for India though. Can India get to 150?

Saha c Mathews b Perera 29 (83b 6x4)

India 127-7 after 51.2 overs (Saha 29*)

WICKET! Big wicket. Jadeja is given out, leg before the wicket, after review. The umpire initially gave him not out but the Sri Lankans went for a review straight away. The partnership was 48 runs – really vital when you consider the state of the game.

Jadeja lbw b Perera 22 (37b 2x4 1x6)

India 122-6 after 50 overs (Saha 25, Jadeja 21)

Stumping missed! Dickwella had an easy chance to stump Saha (who was on 25), the ball didn’t even do too much. But he made a complete mess of it. They could come to regret this. Sri Lanka need to get their head back in the game, they are completely on the defensive here. A wicket would have given them a huge boost at the moment.

India 114-6 after 45 overs (Saha 24, Jadeja 14)

The sun is out and the conditions have eased a little but still India will want as many runs as possible on. The run-rate has increased after Jadeja made his way to the wicket and in a way, that might be a good thing. Saha is playing a very important innings and his knowledge of home conditions must be helping as well.

India 91-6 after 41 overs (Saha 16, Jadeja 1)

8.1 overs, 17 runs, 1 wickets. The session so far. Saha has looked to play a few shots now and that might be the way forward given that only the tail remains. It is also probably the approach that Jadeja will take.

India 79-6 after 37.2 overs (Saha 6*)

WICKET! It sneaked in through the small gap between bat and pad. Gamage got the ball to nip back. Brilliant delivery but Pujara will be cursing himself. The gap, on a wicket with so much movement, is a big mistake.

Pujara b Gamage 52 (117b 10x4)

India 79-5 after 34 overs (Pujara 48, Saha 6)

A bit surprising to see Herath coming in to bowl from the pavilion end. Maybe just to get Lakmal back to his preferred end. But a poor delivery – angled on the legs – which Pujara helped along... saw the Indian batsman get one of his finest fifties – 52 off 108 balls including 10 fours.

Pitch report

The pitch still has a healthy covering of grass. There are also footmarks that the batsmen will have to contend with. It’s hard to say what will be a decent total but India need to get as much as possible. Pujara is batting on 47 off 102 balls and giving him company is Wriddhiman Saha on 6 off 22 balls.

“Pujara is a batsman who has a grip of every condition when he goes out to bat. The way he bats nowadays... It was probably one of the best 47 runs I’ve seen from Pujara over a period of last 2 or 3 years” - R Sridhar, Indian team’s fielding coach.

These words probably best describe the impact Pujara’s innings has had on all those watching. He played for time and succeeded where others failed. At close of play on Day 2, India were 74/5 after 32.5 overs.

Will we see the tailenders give him the support he deserves? Will we see Pujara save the day? Will Sri Lanka run through the rest of the line-up quickly or will the rain gods have the final say?