Colombo, Aug 27 — Sonal Dinusha (55 not out) and Keshara Nuwantha (46 not out) engineered a spectacular seventh-wicket rearguard partnership, batting through a wicketless morning session to steer Sri Lanka to 329/6 off 104 overs and swell the lead to 116 runs at lunch on day five of the second Test against India at the SSC Ground on Thursday.
Resuming with a precarious 16-run lead on a pitch offering little help to the bowlers, Sri Lanka added 100 unbroken runs in 31.2 overs and left India clueless about dislodging the unbeaten batters Dinusha and Nuwantha, who walked back to a standing ovation from the hosts' dressing room.
With the partnership still unbroken at 111 off 238 balls, Sri Lanka are now daring to dream of drawing the game. A lead approaching 200 runs will set the stage for a riveting conclusion to the Test match, provided the forecasted rain stays away.
What looked like a simple task for India to take the four remaining wickets has become a full-blown headache. Opting for defensive, spread-out fields without close-in catchers, India allowed Dinusha and Nuwantha to rotate the strike and settle into an easy rhythm. Consequently, no Indian bowler managed to string together a consistently threatening over, with the seamers mostly bowling away from the stumps.
Dinusha anchored the fightback with a flawless knock, laced with only two boundaries, and continued his exceptional run to register his fourth consecutive 50-plus score of the series. He was wonderful against the spinners, using deft sweeps and driving cleanly through the off-side. It also earned left-handed batter Dinusha a place in an elite group of batters to score fifty or more in each of their first four Test innings against India.
At the other end, Nuwantha, primarily a bowling all-rounder, looked increasingly assured against both pace and spin, with the drive his go-to shot. He negotiated the second-new-ball spells from Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna with soft hands and admirable patience.
India’s frustration boiled over in the 90th over when Siraj used a review on a desperate caught-behind appeal against Nuwantha, only for the DRS to reveal the ball had merely hit the turf. In an eventful final over, Nuwantha survived a final scare on the stroke of lunch when on-field umpire Ahsan Raza adjudged him lbw off Ravindra Jadeja.
He immediately reviewed the decision, and DRS confirmed the delivery was sliding comfortably down the leg. With Sri Lanka now in a strong position, it remains to be seen whether India can change tactics to take those four wickets quickly.
Brief Scores: India 503/9d in 138 overs trail Sri Lanka 290 and 329/6 f/o in 104 overs (Pasindu Sooriyabandara 92, Sonal Dinusha 55 not out; Manav Suthar 2-98, Mohammed Siraj 1-19) by 116 runs