2nd Test: India land early blows as Krishna, Suthar strike in fading light

Colombo, Aug 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) Prasidh Krishna and Manav Suthar took a wicket each as India reduced Sri Lanka to a precarious 8/2 in just three overs before bad light brought early stumps on Day Two of the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo on Monday.

Having declared their first innings at 503/9 after a rain delay of two hours and ten minutes in the final session, thanks to wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel hitting an unbeaten and rock-solid 115 – his second Test century and first in the island nation, Sri Lanka now trail India by 495 runs with eight wickets remaining in their first innings.

Suthar finished with figures of 1-6 from his lone over, while Krishna took 1-1. With just some time left in day two’s play, India handed the new ball to Mohammed Siraj, who conceded just a single run in an economical opening over.

Krishna struck with his second delivery in the following over. Pitching one back of a length and outside off stump, the ball straightened sharply off the deck and squared up Lahiru Udara. The resulting outside edge flew to the right of gully, where Yashasvi Jaiswal took a sharp diving catch and sent Udara packing for one.

With light deteriorating rapidly and the Sri Lankan batters expressing dissatisfaction over visibility, India introduced Suthar, who caused immediate trouble by striking nightwatchman Prabath Jayasuriya on the back pad with a quicker arm-ball that narrowly missed the leg stump on umpire's call.

But Suthar got his man on the final ball of the over by firing in a flatter delivery that skidded through and trapped Jayasuriya lbw. On-field umpire Ahsan Raza raised his finger, and though Jayasuriya opted for a review, ball-tracking confirmed the delivery was clipping leg stump to uphold the out decision.

A visibly frustrated Jayasuriya departed for two, and flung his gloves away upon reaching the dressing room as umpires halted play for the day due to poor light without allowing another ball to be bowled. If day one was about shared honours, day two was thoroughly dominated by India, who need a win to boost their World Test Championship (WTC) final chances.

Earlier, resuming alongside Siraj, Jurel took his time and didn’t fall for the bait of being surrounded by close-in fielders. Siraj then got off the mark with a pull to long leg, leaving Jurel on strike to face the fielders Sri Lanka brought into the ring. Jurel played out a maiden over against Jayasuriya as the hosts sought to choke the singles and force a mistake.

The wait for his century finally ended after 22 deliveries when Jurel drove a full ball from Fernando over the bowler's head, diving full length to complete a risky single as a direct hit missed the stumps. Jurel celebrated by raising his sleeve to display a tattoo reading ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan,’ while Siraj embraced him in the middle.

With his century secured, Jurel shifted gears immediately, stepping out to launch Fernando high over long-on for a six. Jayasuriya ended Siraj's 29-ball stay by trapping him plumb LBW with a slider, with India burning a review.

Joined by Krishna, Jurel continued to attack by pulling Fernando over deep backward square leg for another six before scampering two runs off a low full-toss. Krishna then added the final touches to the innings by scything a low full-toss through cover for a boundary to push India past the 500-mark, before skipper Shubman Gill signalled for the duo to come back and declare their innings, as India maintained its pole position in the game.

Brief scores:

India 503/9 decl. in 138 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 117, Dhruv Jurel 115 not out; Asitha Fernando 4-106, Prabath Jayasuriya 2-132) lead Sri Lanka 8/2 in three overs (Kamil Mishara five not out; Prasidh Krishna 1-1, Manav Suthar 1-6) by 495 runs

Source: IANS