Sri Lanka 131/3 on Mathews unbeaten 57 and Dilruwan’s 42 in reply to India’s

Some exhilarating batting by the third wicket pair of Dilruwan Perera (42) and Angelo Mathews (57 not out) who shared in a 61-run alliance saw Sri Lanka end the third day’s play of the third and final test match on 131 for 3 wickets in reply to India’s mammoth Indian first innings total of 536 for 7 wickets declared at the Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi.

Skipper Dinesh Chandimal was unbeaten on 25 off 81 balls hitting 3 boundaries as the fourth wicket pair with the former captain sharewith the former captain d in an unfinished partnership of 56 for the fourth wicket. They had faced a most testing bout of hostile pace bowling by the Indians, the second new ball having been taken. Full credit must go to makeshift opener Perera as the 34-year old sporting a few visible grey hairs in his beard , in rising to the occasion in answering his captain’s call quite positively in choosing to go after the Indian bowling attack in his 42-run knock off 54 balls containing 9 boundaries.  That he chose to do so with his side in a similar bad situation as in recent innings against the Indians having lost Dimuth Karunaratne with no runs on the board and Dhananjaya De Silva with the total on 14 did exemplify courage in the man. Indeed, the off spin all-rounder, had done a praiseworthy job when he fell leg before wicket on the review to Jadeja with the total on 75.

Sri Lanka went to tea at 18 for 2 wickets with Dilruwan perera on 12 and Mathews on 4. Dilruwanm Perera, promoted to open the batting for Sadeera Samarawickrema started by smashing 5 fours in off just  28 balls to reach 24 to take the total 32 for 2 with Mathews on 5. Meanwhile Mathews opened up with his second boundary off Ishant Sharma and it was 41 for 2 off 11.3 overs. Mathews progressively grew in confidence going on to move from 6 to 18 off 38 balls slamming 4 boundaries off Ishant Sharma in one over. Sri lanka’s 53 was hoisted in the fifth ball of the 13^th over when Perera  smacked Jadeja through the covers for a boundary as he moved on to 28 off  In 18.3 overs Sri lanka had brought up the 75. At that stage Dilruwan had raced to 43 off 53 balls hammering 9 boundaries. Mathews was on 26 off 44 balls with 6 boundaries. But fate struck when Perera played and missed to Jadeja and India took the review.

By the 30^th over Sri Lanka was on 114 for 3 with Mathews on 52 off 77 balls having clobbered 8 boundaries and two sixes. Chandimal was on 13 off 25 balls with 2 boundaries. It was a sparkling effort and Sri lanka would indeed look to the former captain to continue in that vein tomorrow trailing by 405 runs where still only an atom of work has been done with Sri Lanka facing a long run chase to avoid the follow on. For a batsman fighting form in quest of regaining his old clout indeed it was a commendable job by Mathews in an unfinished long journey if Sri Lanka is to stave off defeat.

At the outset, Indian captain Virat Kohli continued his rich vein of hoisting record when he brought up his sixth double-hundred in Test cricket and went on to post his highest test score of 243 off 287 balls inclusive of 25 boundaries. Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who made 65, were associated in a  fifth-wicket alliance of 135 before Sharma became chinaman Lakshan Sandakan’s third victim. Attempting a square cut he bottom-edged the ball to wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella who also marked his third victim behind the stumps off Sandakan.  If Sri Lanka, spurred by two quick wickets late on day one, harboured any hope of clawing their way back into this Test match, Kohli and Rohit Sharma quelled it with a fifth-wicket partnership of 135. It came to an end off what was to be the second-last ball before lunch, when Rohit fell for 65, bottom-edging a square-cut to the keeper off Lakshan Sandakan. He finished with figures of 4 for 167 off 33.5 overs with paceman Lahiru Gamage claiming 2 for 95 in 25.3.

By Srian Obeyesekere

-The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Sri Lanka Cricket-