Sri Lanka vs India was one of the most interesting deliveries in the second Test in which Sri Lanka finally managed to work the bowlers of India. Sri Lanka made it look like a real chance of progression after receiving a call forward and Pasindu Sooriyabandara and Kamindu Mendis started the counter-attack when they started to chip away at the deficit. Sri Lanka’s bowlers had to catch a glimpse of something special as Sri Lanka scored freely and India’s bowlers were showing physical wear and tear after sitting in the field for a prolonged period. The Indians, however, were quite calm and a judicious display of Manav Suthar’s brilliance in the field, combined with the fire under his left arm, turned the game in their favour.

Sooriyabandara, a rookie in good form, took the lead in this winning battle once again delivering a sterling performance in a breakthrough series for him. The batsman, who made his debut in all-3 Tests, played offensively towards the bowlers while swinging with wisdom. His most impressive play came in his time against Suthar when he dramatically went down low and forcefully scooped a slog sweep high over deep mid-off. It was not only fantastic but the sign of confidence that had seeped into the Sri Lankan camp.

It was then that Sri Lanka were just 36 runs behind with eight wickets down and the prospect of an improbable triumph suddenly didn’t seem too far-fetched. The attitude at SSC thus changed. There was no reason why they shouldn’t have had such hopes because there was a public holiday in Sri Lanka and another holiday on Thursday, so the supporters were hoping that the stadium would be packed and that there would be an opportunity for them to win the final day game.

But, India had overcome with 131 consecutive overs on the chase and the test was only growing harder the more time they spent in the field. The fast bowlers had already put up nearly 90 balls in the first innings in the humid conditions, but Mohammed Siraj had briefly gone out of the field after running into awkward crossbar while trying to grab a ball. The follow-on had thus put the Indian attack under a pressure.

There, Test cricket’s non-glitzy aspects came to the fore. India could have gotten tired toward their intensity but they continued on the search for one. The short ball plan against Kamindu had been implemented so far in the series and India had decided to play the same tactic when the partnership threatened to go too far.

Prasidh Krishna produce another short delivery and Kamindu was again looking to do one of his attacking ones. But he wasn’t nearly as prompt this time. The ball skyrocketed over the boundary towards square leg where Shubman Gill found the challenge quite tough. The Indian captain moved swiftly and came at the ball, looked over his shoulder and made a great catch.

That was their low tide moment. The partnership had proven to be a bright spot for Sri Lanka, but Kamindu’s departure has come prematurely, after only reaching the 50-mark in an aggressive manner. With confidence, Sooriybendara struck the bowling but found it much more difficult to be in the same rhythm as before. But he bat over 52 balls, reporting just seven runs in a stark contrast to the pace he had set earlier.

First and foremost, there was one thing in India that they had stood up to the stress. Afterwards, they started using it again.

Suthar later got rid of Sooriyabandara, revealing a different facet of his arsenal. Although the batter’s previous shot at the spinner had been successful, this time the batter was anticipating it and was expecting a shot that was going to be unpredictable. On the fly ball, Sooriyabandara was forced to rush toward the ball before it wasn’t delivered, and Suthar pushed it wide of off stump. The batter has jumped in, is chasing it, but fails to catch it and is stumped.

This was the 15th wicket of the series for Suthar and one of his best. He didn’t just read “turn” or “bounce,” but he interpreted what the batter wanted to do and responded to it. It is this capacity to keep his spine up after being attacked that makes a spinner formidable over the long periods in a Test match.

Sri Lanka demonstrated much character, but were still outsiders for the remainder of the game at the end. Sonal Dinusha was still unbeaten, and the hosts had a small hope to still make something of it, but after being temporarily propped up on their heels, India had regained control of the game.

More importantly, it would not be just about wickets or runs in Sri Lanka vs India Test. It’s about how a good team pulls together when there is no sign of the opposition. Sri Lanka demonstrated that they can attack, pressure and fight from a challenging position. But here India proved that Test cricket comes to the rescue of those who have the perseverance to hold on as the game gets tiring.

Day 5 is just the last day for Sri Lanka to make something out of a bad situation. The job remains on India’s plate, but is simpler and yet challenging. The visitors were probably run through a lot more than they had bargained for, but they’ve yet to bow out so far.

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