COLOMBO: The deciding Test match had assumed an intriguing hue when rain stalked the day’s progress. Electing to bowl, Sri Lanka got rid of opener KL Rahul in the first over before they consumed Ajinkya Rahane. But the 36-run alliance between Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara staved off further blushes before the rain came lashing down.
With a fair amount of grassy parches on the strip, Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews readily chose to bowl, and his seamers immediately justified his decision. Second ball of the match, Rahul shouldered arms tenuously to a vicious Dhammika Prasad delivery that broke back enough to rattle his stumps. This was the third successive instance India had lost an opener in the first over of the innings.
Rahane crunched a brace of boundaries, one through long off and the other straight, but he was late in reacting to Nuwan Pradeep’s fuller-length ball that swung late to ping him in front. Suddenly, India were 14 for 2. India’s plight could have worse had debutant wicketkeeper Kusal Perera latched on to an inside edge of Kohli, a straightforward offering. Thereafter, the skipper and Pujara survived, though edgily at time. Kohli was beaten a couple of times outside the off-stump, but bizarrely Sri Lankan bowlers didn’t persist with the length, Kohli’s perceived weak zone.
They were also hamstrung by a back strain to Prasad, who bowled just three overs in his first spell. He returned later and seamed the ball both ways to discomfit the Indian batsmen. But Pradeep, as is his wont, was a touch erratic, either bowling too short or too wide outside the off stump. The skipper bought himself on in the seventh over, but he couldn’t bargain much purchase off the wicket. He then resorted to left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who bowled just an over before the skies opened up.
More than Sri Lanka’s bowlers, India’s batsmen would have felt frustrated by the rain, as they now will have to start all over again, while the rain means there will some extra assistance for the seamers when they resume.
Earlier, Sri Lanka made three changes to their team, with Nuwan Pradeep, Upul Tharanga and Perera replacing Dushmantha Chameera, Kumar Sangakkara and Jehan Mubarak. India too were forced to bring in a couple of changes, handing out debut to Naman Ojha in place of the injured wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha and Cheteshwar Pujara returning to the side for the Murali Vijay.