CHENNAI: When India dismissed Sri Lanka 213 runs short of their first innings score, there were two choices in front of them. Bat again, pile on for a session or two and declare. Or enforce follow-on and trust the bowlers to take 20 wickets without a break.
No matter what they decide, it would be the choice they have to live with. For better or worse. Skipper Shubman Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir opted for door number two. And they had the reasons. The pitch had been on the slower side, wickets had been hard to come by, but so had the runs. And with the intermittent rain interruption, India would have hoped that they would have a better chance of winning if they dismissed Sri Lanka again in the third innings.
It was a valid understanding of the situation, and they could still go on and win the match. But the hosts made sure that they were not going down without a fight. For a little over 72.4 overs, Indian bowlers toiled, tried different combinations, strategies, but Sri Lankan batters, especially Pasindu Sooriyabandara and Kamindu Mendis, put their foot down and said not today. Not under their watch.
Sooriyabandara, the half-centurion from the first innings, picked up from where he left and built a partnership after the early dismissal of Lahiru Udara. First, he added 58 runs with Kamil Misara and then, put up a stoic stand alongside Mendis. Together, they added 115 runs for the third wicket. The runs, as important as they were, slowly came, but the duo also batted time, tiring out the Indian bowlers who have been on the field since late on Day two.
They batted 28 overs together before Mendis (55) fell to a short ball from Prasidh Krishna, but Sooriyabandara kept going. Having missed a century that was there for a taking in the first innings, he hit ten fours and a six on his way towards a hundred on Wednesday. Even as Dhananjaya de Silva got out, the No 3 moved into his 90s with the centurion from first innings, Sonal Dinusha, by his side. Just when it looked like he would cross the three-figure mark, Sooriyabandara had a brain-fade moment and chased a wider delivery from Manav Suthar. A quick stumping from Rishabh Pant meant he had to take a long walk back for 92 runs from 173 balls. Soon, India tried to capitalise on the situation with Saransh Jain dismissing Niroshan Dickwella, but they were met with the defiance of Dinusha and Keshara Nuwantha by the time stumps were drawn early due to rain.
From an Indian perspective, the bowlers have been on the field for more than 160 overs and they still need four wickets to walk off the field. And with Sri Lanka already taking a slender lead of 16 runs, the sooner they do it the better it will be for them to have a chance at winning the Test. And one would expect India to go all out considering the World Test Championship points at stake.
However, standing in between them and the crucial points is Dinusha. He already brought up a century in the morning on Day 4, and would hope to extend the batting innings into the second session of Thursday. The job for him would be to just bat as long as possible. He knows that anything over 150 could be a tricky target, and there is always a threat of rain around. "We need to get as many runs as possible. We lost too many wickets in the last session and we need to bat well tomorrow. Hopefully, I can contribute to the team's score tomorrow as well," Dinusha said.
For India, their primary job come Thursday would be to remove him as early as possible and run through the tail.
