Dinusha and Nuwantha frustrate India

(PC: Debasis Sen)

Keshara Nuwantha’s average in first-class cricket is 12.00. In Sri Lanka’s second innings, he has so far batted for 172 minutes and faced 149  balls to be unbeaten on 46. This is on top of his 74-ball (18) first-innings resolve.

Sonal Dinusha, resplendent in another half-century, has proved to be India’s nemesis in this series. With a tally of 342 runs (and counting), including two hundreds, at an average of 114.00, he is a strong contender to be Player of the Series. Sri Lanka have unearthed a serious Test player.

Together Dinusha and Nuwantha so far have added 111 runs for the seventh wicket and are at the crease for 172 minutes to keep India at bay on the final day of the series. The hosts went to lunch on 329/6 , leading by 116 runs. There’s a forecast of rain in the afternoon. It’s still a little premature to say the pair has saved the game. But if Sri Lanka can eventually eke out a draw here, following on, they will have a claim on moral victory.

The day started with India needing four wickets to wrap up Sri Lanka’s second innings. The second new ball was seven overs away. Shubman Gill started with Ravindra Jadeja and Saransh Jain. Even the fifth day pitch, however, didn’t offer much. In fact, the surface hasn’t changed much over five days, which is a bit odd at the SSC. Traditionally at this venue, the pitch starts to break from Day 4 onwards.

The odd ball turned and jumped. But edges fell in no-man’s land. Gill probably could have been a little more proactive with his field settings. A gully for Jadeja against Nuwantha right from the outset might have been effective.

On the stroke of lunch, there was some hope for India, when Nuwantha was given out leg-before off Jadeda, shouldering arms. DRS overturned the on-field decision. Sri Lanka added 100 runs in 31.2 overs in the first session.

Lunch scores: India 503/9 decl. vs Sri Lanka 290 and 329/6 (Sonal Dinusha 55 batting, Keshara Nuwantha 46 batting)

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