Nothing Spectacular From India’s Viewpoint on Second Day of the Colombo Test

Overnight not out batsman Wriddhiman Saha helped India stretch the morning and caused enormous frustration to the Sri Lankan bowlers. If it was not for Saha, who recorded his highest test score of 60 at Galle, the innings could have folded much earlier. Saha was the 9th India wicket that fell on the second day as India reached 393. But it should not be forgotten that they were 319/5 at one stage. Therefore, the supposed batting strength of this Indian team is still a misguided notion since in reality they only added just 74 runs, thanks to Saha’s 56 and Amit Mishra’s 24. Of the remaining batsmen, R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav added 2 runs apiece. The batting performance is quite comparable to the Galle first innings, where India lost their last eight wickets for 120 runs after making 255/2. They brought Stuart Binny in the Colombo test with the hope that batting would be fortified but did that happen? The only positive was India denying Sri Lanka a clear advantage since the last four wickets didn’t fall quickly enough. When Sri Lanka came out for their first innings, India began with a promise as Yadav took out Karunaratne in the second over but the second wicket stand between Kaushal Silva and Kumara Sangakkara was worth 74. The great Sanga, for whom this is the farewell test, scored 32 before falling to Ashwin for the third consecutive time in the ongoing series. At 140/3, one can say Sri Lanka is trailing India 253 but they still have a lot of batting left.

The second day began with Wriddhiman Saha and R Ashwin coming out to resume from 319/6 but Ashwin lasted just 7 balls and after scoring 2 runs, he fell to a loosely played drive that was snapped up easily. From 321/7, Saha and Amit Mishra added 46 runs in the only useful partnership for India on the second day. Their effort stretched India to the utter frustration of the Sri Lankan bowlers. After Mishra fell as the eighth wicket, the end came quickly as neither Umesh Yadav nor Ishant Sharma could make any contribution. Both of them scored 2 runs each but proved good company to Saha, who fell as the ninth Indian wicket for an invaluable 56 runs off 117 balls with over 3 hours’ stay at the crease. The Indian innings came to an end at 393 in 114 overs.

When Sri Lanka came to respond, they lost opener Dimuth Karunaratne in the second over with the score reading 1/1. Then the legendary Kumara Sangakkara walked in. The entire Indian team stood in the guard of honor to welcome the Sri Lankan veteran. In the last test match of his illustrious career, Sangakkara fought harder than any time in past for scoring 32 off 87 balls before he fell to R Ashwin for the third time in the series. At 75/2, Lahiru Thirimanne came and with Silva, he carried the score to 114 before Silva lost his wicket to an indiscreet shot. But skipper Angelo Mathews ensured that Sri Lanka did not suffer any further casualty until the stumps were drawn on the second day. They finished at 140/3, still 253 behind India on the first innings.