Sri Lanka 205 and 0 for 0 trail India 610 for 6 decl. (Kohli 213, Pujara 143, Vijay 128, Rohit 102*) by 405 runs
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Last July Virat Kohli had none of those. He now has five. Only Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar are the Indians with more. Kohli waltzed to his fifth double-century to set up a declaration for India and asked the visitors to bat for nine overs before stumps on day three. Rohit Sharma ended his 13-month wait for first-class cricket and a four-year wait for a Test century with one in 160 balls. Kohli called the batsmen back in as soon as Rohit reached the mark, making it only the third time India have had four centurions in one Test innings.
Tea India 507 for 4 (Kohli 170*, Rohit 51*) lead Sri Lanka 205 by 302 runs
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Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have a chat between overs © BCCI
India continued to reap a rich harvest for all the hard work done sowing the crop on day two. Virat Kohli waltzed his way through to his seventh score of 150 or more and to most centuries by an India captain. In support cast, Cheteshwar Pujara fell seven short of what could have been his seventh score of 150 or more and Rohit Sharma eased his way to an unbeaten fifty in his first first-class match in 13 months. India took full toll of tired bodies and minds on the field and led by 302 at the tea interval. Urgency in the 97-run stand between Kohli and Rohit suggested a declaration awaited Sri Lanka in the final session.
The start of the day was indicative of how the rest of it would go. Pujara played out a watchful maiden – he took 23 balls to add to his overnight score – and Kohli started off with a single to long-on off his first ball. By the fourth over, it was clear Sri Lanka – understandably – were not there a 100% and that Kohli was in his hyper-active T20 mode.
Kohli pushed one to long-on, Suranga Lakmal lobbed a throw back to Rangana Herath, and Kohli stole the second as the ball skid under Herath’s slow comedown, even though it reached only as far as the point fielder. Fielders were under extreme pressure. Later, Herath had his pride hurt when Kohli pinched a single after hitting a firm drive straight to him at mid-off. Flustered, Herath threw anyway and conceded an overthrow. If Lakmal had reason to be upset, he didn’t help matters when he forgot to make an effort to a collect a throw the last ball of that over. Towards the end of the session, Niroshan Dickwella was busy applauding the wide slip for getting a hand to a late cut when Kohli called Pujara through for a single.
Pujara continued to play the old-fashioned way. Despite the slow start he didn’t look for a big shot to get going, clipping to leg for his first single of the morning. Kohli was more fluent as he kept driving either side of the wicket from wide outside off.
The seamers tried going round the wicket and Herath tried going over the wicket, but there was hardly a moment of concern for India. While Pujara and Kohli batted together on day three, the bat was beaten only five times, one of them a Dasun Shanaka yorker about seven minutes lunch when the ball squeezed under the bat of Pujara, which had covered the line and had come down in time. It was just a reminder that even when batting seems easy for long periods, there are still ways to get out.
A minor disappointment for India was that Ajinkya Rahane fell for just 2, to a loose ball from Dilruwan Perera, but Kohli and Rohit made up for that in a stand where they matched each other shot for shot. If Kohli welcomed Lakmal back by dancing down and hitting him over mid-off, Rohit dropped Dilruwan over mid-on. Kohli matched it with a six over long-on of his own, bringing up his and Dilrwuan’s 150. Rohit then raised two lofted boundaries off Herath. Rohit’s 11-ball wait to go from 49 to 50 just before tea brought his strike rate under 50, but attempts at correcting that figure were expected post tea.
Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo