Agency :
Ravindra Jadeja’s all-round show outclassed Sri Lanka on the second day of the first Test at the PCA IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali. In reply to India’s 574 for 8, Sri Lanka posted 108/4 at stumps on Saturday. Pathum Nisanka was batting on 26 and was accompanied with Charith Asalanka (1*). They trail India by 466 runs in the first innings.
On the day, he was at his imperious best as India scored 217 runs in two sessions because of his attacking batting. Jadeja, in all, batted for five and half hours, faced 228 balls and by the time he walked back to the pavilion, he had hit 17 fours and three sixes.
With an unbeaten 175, he is now the highest scorer at Number 7 or below for India in the longest format of the game. Later, he produced a magnificent spell with the ball in hand, registering figures of 1/30 in 9 overs.
Sri Lanka went off to a controlled start in response to a mammoth 574 posted by India. The opening pair of Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne added 48 runs to the first wicket before Ravichandran Ashwin broke the partnership in the 19th over.
Jadeja was the next in line who struck in the 25th over and got the better of the Sri Lankan captain. Karunaratne’s dismissal for 28 left the visitors reeling at 59/2.
Meanwhile, the hosts suffered a massive disappointment after Jasprit Bumrah’s no-ball gave a life to Pathum Nisanka.
In the 32nd over, the Indian vice-captain bowled a slower one that breached Nisanka’s defence and knocked off the middle stump. The celebrations didn’t last long as on-field umpire Nitin Menon called it a no-ball.
But Bumrah compensated for the blunder in his next over by trapping veteran all-rounder Angelo Matthews in front. The latter reviewed the decision but only to find that it was an umpire’s call.
Before the end of day’s play, Ashwin struck again in the 39th over of the Sri Lanka innings and dismissed Dhananjaya de Silva leg before for 1. The visitors still needs 267 runs to avoid follow-on.
In general, the Lankans never looked competitive with India scoring runs at 4.43 runs per over during the entire course of 129.2 overs.
Often an uneven contest between bat and ball becomes extremely boring and the first two days of this Test match once again would raise a debate whether it’s about time for the ICC to mull on having a two-tier Test system to make it more appealing for the fans.
