Lunch: India 251 for 5 (Kohli 41*, Ashwin 0*) lead Sri Lanka by 129 runs
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Suranga Lakmal generated bounce and sharp lateral movement both ways to dismiss three top-order batsmen, giving Sri Lanka a chance to upset India on the fifth day at the Eden Gardens. Virat Kohli weathered a testing period with an unbeaten 41, taking India to 251 for 5, a lead of 129, at lunch.
Sri Lanka didn’t produce many threatening deliveries on the fourth afternoon. But Lakmal, who was off the field for close to half an hour on the fourth day, was the only Sri Lanka bowler to hit a high 130 kmph range and produced enough seam movement. First, he set KL Rahul up with a set of deliveries he hung outside off. Rahul too was patient, waiting for Lakmal to overpitch. Then came the big, booming inducker, attacking the pads and stumps. Rahul’s balance was thrown off by the change in line as he fell over a flick, and the ball found a considerable gap between bat and pad.
He produced the ball of the morning to have Cheteshwar Pujara, who became the ninth batsman to bat on all five days of a Test, caught at gully. Landing on a good length generally keeps batsmen indecisive – whether to move forward or stay back – but it becomes even harder to negotiate with variable bounce. Pujara stayed on the back foot, but the ball kept climbing on him and jagging away as he tried to ride the bounce. It lobbed off the shoulder of the bat to Dilruwan Perera at gully, who took a sharp, low catch.
Four balls later, Lakmal had another good-length delivery hooping back in to beat Ajinkya Rahane’s inside edge. With the ball moving both ways, Sri Lanka had an opening.
But India, aware that it was just Lakmal producing sharp movement, rode out the storm. Kohli survived a close call when he gloved a short delivery past the keeper to get off a pair but left well thereafter. When Sri Lanka erred too full, he drove through the line, accumulating more than half – 21 of 41 – his runs in the arc between cover and mid-on.
Jadeja, promoted to No. 6 possibly to counter Rangana Herath, didn’t find any rhythm or fluency in his 41-ball nine. He edged Dilruwan to first slip off an attempted cut on the stroke of lunch.
Nikhil Kalro is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo