Nagpur: If Day 2 wasn’t enough, then the third day’s play in the second Test match between India and Sri Lanka is a clear indication of the fact that this Test match has been completely dominated by the hosts so far as the Virat Kohli led side raced to a massive lead of 384 runs against Sri Lanka at the VCA stadium in Nagpur on Sunday.
Kohli, once again displayed his batting prowess in the longest format as he hit his fifth double ton and also stitched crucial partnerships with Chesteswar Pujara and comeback man Rohit to help India have a stronghold over the match.
The Indian captain initially shared a solid 183 run stand with Pujara (143) before Rohit Sharma (102 n.o) too got into the act as he scored his third Test ton to pile up more pressure on the visitors whose bowling was absolutely torn apart by the hosts.
Ajinkya Rahane (2) and KL Rahul who was dismissed on the first day itself would rue the fact that they missed out on substantial score where all the other batsmen got amongst the runs.
Dilruwan Perera emerged as the best bowler for the Lankans as he snared three wickets while conceding 202 runs while Lahiru Gamage, Rangana Herath and Dasun Shanaka took one wicket each.
But that wasn’t all as Ishant once again gave India a flying start with the ball as he sent back Sadeera Samarawickrama for a duck, in the Lankan pursuit of chasing down a huge 405-run lead.
With Sri Lanka at 21/1, India would fancy their chances of bowling them out tomorrow itself. But it would take one huge effort from the Dinesh Chandimal led side if they have to take this match to atleast a draw.
Brief scores-
Sri Lanka 21/1 (Dimuth Karunaratne 11 n.o, Lahiru Thirimanne 9 n.o; Ishant Sharma 1/15) trail India 610/6 (Virat Kohli 213, Cheteshwar Pujara 143; Dilruwan Perera 3/202) by 384 runs