Galle: India continued with it’s dominance in the first test match of the series as skipper Virat Kohli and opener Abhinav Mukund continued to pile up the runs and put the pressure on the hosts.
After dismissing the Sri Lankans for 291 in their first innings, thereby gaining a lead of 309 runs, the Indians decided against enforcing a follow-on. Skipper Kohli and Abhinav Mukund struck half-centuries to extend the lead to 498 runs and tighten India’s grip on this match.
Abhinav Mukund finally found his name amongst the runs as he fought his demons from the past to register his second fifty in Test cricket. The third day could have seen him going on to register his maiden ton but Danushka Gunathilaka ended his stay at the crease for 81 runs in the last over of the day. But nonetheless, it has been a great turnaround for the Tamil Nadu lad who was a livewire in the field in Sri Lanka’s first innings.
Skipper Kohli too got amongst the runs as he stayed unbeaten on 76, having struck five fours. Him coming back to form would be a great thing for the Indian team looking ahead into the series.
Earlier, former skipper Angelo Mathews who had ended the second day on 54* scored 83 runs before being dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja. Dilruwan Perera continued to frustrate the bowlers with 92* but he didn’t find any support from his teammates as they hardly showed any resistance whatsover leaving Perera stranded at the crease with just eight runs shy of a century.
Having conceded a 309-run lead, the Indian bowlers got rid of the dangerous Shikhar Dhawan (14) and Cheteshwar Pujara (15), both of whom had 150 plus runs to their names in the first innings. But Kohli didn’t let any opportunity for the hosts to make a comeback as he slammed his way to half-century after having played eight innings without a 50 plus score in Test cricket. His 76* also helped him reach the 1000-run mark in Test cricket as an Indian captain in overseas conditions.
The Sri Lanka were taken for runs all round the park as Danushka Gunathilaka was the only bowler to have conceded just 15 runs with a wicket, although he bowled just 4.3 overs.
Thus with a lead of 498 runs, India would look to build on it on the fourth day and the only way that the hosts can avoid a defeat is by putting up a brave batting performance to draw the match. But this looks highly unlikely as the Indian bowlers would cherish bowling to them with so many runs in the bag and with a lot of time still left in this test match.