In the third over of the innings, Ashwin got the opener Kaushal Silva (1) who hit a full toss straight to Binny at a very short mid-wicket. Sri Lanka need 341 runs to win with eight wickets in hand.
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Tharindu Kaushal began with a 7-2 legside field, but Sri Lanka quickly realized their folly when India rattled off 54 runs in 11 overs in the first hour.
Kumar Sangakkara was dismissed for 18 in his last worldwide innings to leave Sri Lanka in trouble in the second cricket Test against India yesterday.
On day two, Wriddhiman Saha (56) scored his second successive Test fifty and helped India reach 393 in the first innings.
The match now hinges in the balance, perhaps a little in India’s favour as they go into day four with nine wickets intact in the second innings. With a couple of sixes – one off Chameera and Kaushal each, India surpassed the lead past 200.
With Sri Lanka tottering at 91/4, rival skipper Virat Kohli applied more pressure with a few men clustered around the bat. He did well enough to bat out the remaining session without any further losses, still keeping India on track for a 350-plus lead target.
According to official team sources, he is being monitored by the physio and a call on his participation on day five will be taken only after reassessing the extent of injury on Monday morning.
Dhammika Prasad was also out for a duck, skying Ashwin to mid-on, and India’s off-spinner ended Dimuth Karunaratne’s defiance, the overnight batsman departing for a 103-ball 46 after being bowled by an arm ball. Once we took those early wickets in the morning, we wanted to bowl attacking lines and didn’t want to lose time.
Sharma was charged with breaching provisions of the players’ code of conduct which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his dismissal”, said the worldwide Cricket Council (ICC) in a statement. He’s one of those local heroes that a lot of people in Sri Lanka look up to, and he’s been a great role model.
The crowd was stunned into silence when Ashwin brought the curtains down on a glorious career, removing the legendary left-hander for 18.
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Unhindered on a helpful wicket, the two batsmen put on 110 unbeaten runs for the fourth wicket then. The right-hander scored 10 fours during his 243-ball innings.
