Lunch: Sri Lanka 263 for 8 (Herath 43*, Lakmal 10*) lead India 172 by 91 runs
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Mohammed Shami, on his home ground, rattled through Sri Lanka’s middle order to restrict Sri Lanka’s lead to 91 at lunch on the fourth day of the Kolkata Test. After overcoming a bout of cramps he suffered on the second day, he cranked up the pace and generated appreciable seam movement on a grassy pitch to take three wickets. Rangana Herath, though, stalled India’s momentum with a lively, unbeaten 43 off just 67 balls, moving the game towards a point where there can be only one winner in the Test.
Niroshan Dickwella and Dinesh Chandimal began the fourth morning under sunny skies by counterattacking India’s seamers. But like Sadeera Samarawickrama on the third day, hitting through the line can be fraught with risk against the moving ball because it threatens both edges. Their approach worked for the first half hour, taking Sri Lanka to 200, a handy lead of 28.
Just when it seemed like Sri Lanka wrested control, India hit back. Sri Lanka’s middle order tried to make contact with the ball, as opposed to allowing themselves to be beaten by playing the line, a ploy to move the Test along. On a seaming surface like this, it wasn’t a bad one.
Dickwella had punched, cut and pulled merrily, but was also beaten repeatedly. Shami got one to seam in from his around-the-wicket angle, then bounce and jag away – enough to find the outside edge, but not exaggerated movement to beat the edge.
Bhuvneshwar, in the next over, set up Dasun Shanaka with an outswinger well outside off. He started the next ball on a similar line, but it hooped back prodigiously to hit Shanaka, offering no shot with an intent to leave as many as he could, on the back pad. Only James Anderson is more adept at using this tactic with the swinging ball in Tests currently.
Five balls later, Chandimal was caught fishing outside his off stump against Shami. Again, the ball did just enough to find the outside edge. Suddenly, Sri Lanka had slipped to 201 for 7.
It got worse for Sri Lanka when Dilruwan Perera was given out lbw off a sharp inducker from Shami that beat his inside edge. Dilruwan, it appeared, accepted the decision and turned around to walk towards the dressing room, but asked for a review moments later. Replays showed the ball hit Dilruwan outside the line of off stump.
While Dilruwan showcased tight defensive technique thereafter, Herath was particularly effective with cross-batted strokes on either side of the wicket. He would frequently perch on the back foot, and depending on the line, either cut through point or pull past midwicket. Considering deliveries on a good or short length were routinely beating him with a straight bat, it was a rewarding strategy.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo