India is in total command of the second Test match, which is a Pink Ball Test affair. India has been clinical through their performances in the red ball, and they have continued the same form with the Pink Ball as well. In the 1st innings, the hosts managed just 252 runs.
But in the 2nd innings, India batted well, although the pitch is offering some turn, bounce, and some deliveries also being kept low. Still, the Indian batsmen piled up 303 runs in their second innings at Bengaluru.
Sri Lanka was bundled out for just 109 runs in their 1st innings –
It was the perfect 1st session for the home team. The Sri Lankan batters continued from their overnight score of 86 runs for the loss of six wickets. The visitors would have wanted their remaining batters to get at least 150 or more runs on the board. But the lower order wasn’t that good against the quality pace of Bumrah and the spin of Ravi Ashwin.
Lasith Embuldeniya was the first wicket to fall. Sri Lanka reached the hundred-run mark. But they also lost Suranga Lakmal for just five runs. Ravi Ashwin cleaned the pace bowler. A lot was expected from Niroshan Dickwella, especially after his half-century in the second innings at Mohali.
But he was also dismissed on the same score of hundred. Bumrah, who took three wickets yesterday, ended with a five-wicket haul today, and Ashwin got the last man, Vishwa Fernando. Pant stumped him for just eight runs.
Overall, the batters of the Lankan side were disappointing as there was no match between the Indians and the visitors’ lineup. Sri Lanka managed just 109 runs on the board, allowing India a massive lead of 143 runs. Then the Sri Lankan bowlers struggled in India’s second innings.
The Indian openers had a cautious start in the 2nd innings –
Sri Lanka wanted some early breakthroughs just like the 1st innings. The Indian openers added ten runs for the first wicket in the first innings. But this time, they built a 42 run stand for the opening position, and they started carefully.
Mayank and Rohit had no miscommunications this time around. The first over was the maiden one, and then the Indian players started to attack the Sri Lankan bowlers after a few overs went by. This partnership could have reached the fifty-run mark. But it was Mayank Agarwal’s wicket didn’t allow India to do so.
Agarwal was out for 22 runs. Lasith Embuldeniya got the breakthrough for the Sri Lankans. Then Hanuma Vihari and Rohit Sharma played nicely and the score reached near the 100 run mark. But Rohit decided to cut loose and gave a simple catch to Angelo Matthews off Dhananjaya De Silva’s bowling Hit Man was out for 46 runs.
Rishabh Pant went on the attack mode –
India didn’t have any significant partnerships after the opening stand. The home team lost the wickets at regular intervals.
Hanuma Vihari was the next one to go after Rohit Sharma. Vihari had the starts in both the innings. But he couldn’t kick on as he did in Mohali. He was out for 35 runs in the second innings.
Virat Kohli also didn’t last for long with Rishabh Pant. He was out after two overs of Vihari’s dismissal. Kohli scored only 13 runs in the second innings, and the wait has been kept longer for his 71st international hundred. This test series will be the last, and after that, the two-month-long IPL will start.
Rishabh Pant was in attacking mode in the 1st innings as well. But there, he managed 39 runs, and in the second innings, Pant went past Kapil Dev’s record of scoring the fastest half-century in Test matches for India. He smashed 50 runs from just 28 deliveries with seven fours and two sixes.
Shreyas Iyer came good once again after his gusty 92 runs in the 1st innings –
Rishabh Pant’s fattest half-century allowed India to pile more pressure on the miserable Sri Lankan bowlers. They were chipping away with wickets after the 42 run opening stand. Shreyas Iyer would be the man of the match when India seals the match on day three of this Pink Ball Test match. He held the innings together with his 92 run knock in the 1st innings. That allowed India to post a good score of 252 runs.
And in the second innings, he slammed another half-century. He is just the 10th Indian player to score two fifties in one Test match. Iyer scored 67 runs from 87 balls which also included nine boundaries. He didn’t allow the spinners of Sri Lanka to settle. After Ashwin and Jaddu were dismissed early, Shami’s 22 run knock allowed India to get the lead over 400 runs.
Axar Patel was the last man to be dismissed, and India declared their innings with just half an hour to end the second day’s play. India scored 303 for the loss of nine wickets, and they had set a target of 447 runs for Sri Lanka to level the series and bag their first-ever win in India.
Sri Lanka start poorly in the run chase of 447 runs in the second innings –
The visitors are firmly on the back foot as they have lost one wicket in a tall run chase. Rohit Sharma did an intelligent thing to declare with just half an hour remaining on the second day at Bengaluru. The Indian pacers made good use of the movement under lights, and they continued that in the Sri Lankan second innings.
Lahiru Thiramane was out on a duck, and Sri Lanka started their innings with the loss of one wicket and zero runs on the scoreboard. Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis are the unbeaten overnight batsmen from the Sri Lankan side. The skipper is not out on ten runs, and Mendis is unbeaten on 16 runs.
Jasprit Bumrah took the lone Sri Lankan wicket, and the visitors need to bat for three days to save this Test match or score more than 419 runs to level the two-match Test series that India is currently leading by a margin of 1-0.