Delhi: The Indian bowling unit fought back late in the day to gain control of the Test match after brilliant knocks by Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Monday.
The day began with skipper Chandimal battling it out with Mathews who showed a lot of resistance and slowly built on the good work they had done at the end of the second day. The duo stitched an inspiring 181-run stand-a partnership that Sri Lanka required, especially after a tough tour so far. Both Mathews and Chandimal batted with patience and determination to slowly take Sri Lanka to a point from where they could atleast challenge the Indians.
But the long resistance was ended by Ravichandran Ashwin, who was undoubtedly the star of the Indian bowling. The off-spinner first had Mathews caught behind for a brilliant 111 and then dismissed Roshen Silva and wicket-keeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella for ducks to bring back India into the game.
A highlight of the day was the stunning catch by Wriddhiman Saha to dismiss Sadeera Samarawickrama (33) of the bowling of Ishant Sharma. The Bengal wicket-keeper took a wonderful right-handed catch to send back Samarawickrama, who was looking to score quick runs. Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammad Shami also took two wickets each.
Chandimal’s fighting innings (147 n.o) is definitely what Sri Lanka would be counting on to reduce the deficit as much as possible.
Brief scores-
Sri Lanka 356/9 (Dinesh Chandimal 147 n.o, Angelo Mathews 111; Ravichandran Ashwin 3/90) trail India 536/7 by 180 runs