Niroshan Dickwella and Sonal Dinusha hit unbeaten half-centuries to lead Sri Lanka’s fightback against India on Day 3 of the opening Test at the Galle International Stadium on Monday.
At tea, Sri Lanka were 214/5 in 57 overs, still 248 runs behind India’s first-innings total of 462. Dickwella was unbeaten on 71 off 102 balls, while Dinusha was 62 not out off 102, with the pair adding 124 runs for the unbroken sixth-wicket partnership. Sri Lanka need another 48 runs to avoid the follow-on.
Resuming at 99/5, Sri Lanka appeared headed for a substantial first-innings deficit. However, Dickwella, playing his first Test in three years, and Dinusha showed composure on a turning pitch, using sweeps and reverse-sweeps effectively to counter India’s spinners.
Dickwella took the initiative, repeatedly employing the sweep to disrupt India’s spin attack. In the 32nd over, India lost a review when left-arm spinner Manav Suthar struck Dickwella on the pads, but ball-tracking showed the impact was outside off stump.
Ravindra Jadeja then came close to breaking the partnership in the 35th over after an lbw appeal against Dickwella. India reviewed the decision, but the ball-tracking showed it would have bounced over the leg stump, leaving the visitors with no reviews.
Dickwella was handed another reprieve soon after when KL Rahul dropped a sharp edge at slip off Suthar with the batter on 20.
The wicketkeeper-batter made India pay for the missed chances, reaching his 23rd Test half-century and first in four years off 68 balls with a flicked double off Jadeja in the 46th over.
Dinusha, meanwhile, combined disciplined defence with calculated aggression. He brought up his second Test fifty off 93 balls by sweeping wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav to deep mid-wicket in the 49th over, before celebrating by hitting Suthar for a six over deep mid-wicket.
India captain Shubman Gill rotated his bowling options and briefly brought back pacers Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna in search of reverse swing. However, the pitch offered little assistance to the seamers as Dickwella and Dinusha continued to frustrate the Indian attack.
Brief Scores: India 462 in 116.4 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 167, KL Rahul 82; Prabath Jayasuriya 4/109, Keshara Nuwantha 3/175) lead Sri Lanka 214/5 in 57 overs (Niroshan Dickwella 71 not out, Sonal Dinusha 62 not out; Manav Suthar 2/52, Mohammed Siraj 1/29) by 248 runs.
(IANS Inputs)
