Sri Lanka 504 and 100 for 4 (Karunaratne 53*, Gunaratne 5*, Mumba 3-31) lead Zimbabwe 272 (Chari 80, Ervine 64, Williams 58, Herath 5-89) by 333 runs
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Rangana Herath picked up his 27th five-for in Tests © Associated Press
In isolation, the final session on day three was among Zimbabwe’s best in the series. They attacked, bowled with purpose and intensity to remove four Sri Lankan wickets. But conceding a 232-run lead due to series of injudicious shots against spin, meant they were left to play catch up yet again. Sri Lanka, who went into stumps on 102 for 4, had opened up a 334-run lead with two full days remaining.
Barring spells of torrential rain that hit the region prior to the start of the series, Zimbabwe will be faced with yet another uphill battle to save the Test. That 108.1 overs are the most they’ve batted in the fourth innings in their history indicates the magnitude of the task that awaits them. With 180 overs left in the Test, there’s every chance they could be left to script a new record, even if it may seem unlikely, given their travails against Rangana Herath’s left-arm spin.
Batsman after batsman played for turn when there was none. While some like Craig Ervine and Brian Chari were out lbw, others like Malcolm Waller and Graeme Cremer were beaten in flight and out to expansive drives. One wicket was all it took for doubts to creep into the batsmen’s minds as a measured approach at the start of proceedings gave way to attempts to throw the bowlers off.
Herath, benefited the most from this approach as he finished with 5 for 89 to become just the third bowler after Muttiah Muralitharan and Dale Steyn to pick up five-wicket hauls against all Test nations. But to just give Herath all the credit for Zimbabwe’s downfall wouldn’t be doing justice to his team-mates. Dilruwan Perera, the offspinner, exploited the rough to pick three wickets, while right-arm seamer Suranga Lakmal had two. All the bowlers were supported by an agile slip cordon that hung on to tough chances.
The day began with much promise. With the surface being at its best for batting, Zimbabwe, resuming on 126 for 2, had an opportunity to grind Sri Lanka’s bowlers and eat into the deficit. But if there was a lesson on how not to approach spin to be learnt, Zimbabwe’s first-innings effort was a case-in point.
Their only semblance of resistance came late on the second day when Ervine and Chari made half-centuries. Once their 117-run stand was broken early on the third morning by Lakmal, who had him poking to the slips, Zimbabwe collapsed in a heap, losing their last five wickets for 19 to be bowled out for 272 midway through the second session.
Sri Lanka started their second innings shakily against a fired up attack. Carl Mumba showed significant recovery from a knee trouble that forced him to hobble off the field early on the first day. He bent his back and hustled the batsman for pace, the reward for which came in the form of Kusal Mendis, who top-edged a pull to mid-on.
Kaushal Silva, the opener, and first-innings centurion Dhananjaya de Silva were out to juicy full tosses. Upul Tharanga, fighting to stay in contention for a middle order berth for South Africa after a century and half-century here, played all around a Cremer delivery that spun back in to trap him leg before wicket.
Dimuth Karunaratne, guilty of frittering away a start in the first innings, overcame patches of discomfort against the away-going deliveries, to bring up a half-century. He helped Asela Gunaratne, coming off a maiden Test ton in the first innings, see off a nervous last 20 minutes as Sri Lanka stretched ahead despite a top order wobble, courtesy the efforts of their 38-year old captain.
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo