Sri Lanka 291 and 85 for 2 (Karunaratne 44*, Mendis 24*) need another 465 to beat India 600 and 240 for 3 dec (Kohli 103*, Abhinav 81)
Virat Kohli declared after scoring his 17th Test hundred and his 10th as captain © Associated Press
Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav struck an early blow each after India declared early on the fourth morning to set Sri Lanka the task of surviving the best part of two full days or chasing an improbable 550. Sri Lanka ended an extended first session – which began 15 minutes early to make up for overs lost to rain on day three – on a positive note, with Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis adding an unbroken 56 for the third wicket to show their team that batting hadn’t yet become unduly difficult on a firmer-than-usual Galle surface.
Their job, though, has barely even begun. Sri Lanka, at lunch, had faced 23 overs – they have at least 66 more to negotiate today, and an entire day’s play after that, weather permitting.
More to follow…
Karthik Krishnaswamy is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo