Shreyas Iyer produced a counter-attacking 92 to place India in place of energy on a monitor that’s providing intensive assist to spinners because the hosts scored 252 after Sri Lankan bowlers made early inroads on the opening day of the second Test, right here on Saturday.
India had been struggling at 126 for 5 at one stage however Rishabh Pant (39 off 26 balls) turned it round along with his aggressive but efficient batting.
The left-hander was dropped when he was on 4 and he made the Lankans pay closely for the error.
Iyer then modified the narrative along with his managed aggression, the results of which was a gritty knock below stress that may allow India to name the photographs within the day/night time recreation.
Iyer made batting look straightforward after sharp flip and uneven bounce on the M Chinnaswamy monitor made the Indians dance to Lankan spinners’ tunes.
His entertaining knock that got here off 98-balls had 10 fours and 4 sixes, negated all the nice work completed by the visiting bowlers within the first session once they had taken 4 wickets, together with that of skipper Rohit Sharma (15) and Virat Kohli (23).
He missed out on his second Test hundred as he was stumped off Praveen Jayawickrama (3/81) going for a giant shot.
The bowler who had grabbed the momentum for Sri Lanka was left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya (3/94), who additionally dismissed three batters however was later taken to cleaners by Iyer.
While Iyer and Pant took the counter-attacking route, Hanuma Vihari (31) and Kohli had been rigorously crafting their knocks throughout first session.
With the solar shining brilliant, the pink ball didn’t swing sufficient to bother the batters however a number of balls stored actually low, making it powerful for dwelling crew after it elected to bat.
While Mayank Agarwal (4) was run out, Rohit was dismissed by left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya, who obtained the ball to show and bounce.
Vihari’s eventful keep was ended by Praveen Jayawickrama, additionally a left-arm spinner, whereas Virat Kohli’s rigorously crafted brief knock met its finish with a ball that stored actually low and had him plumb off off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva.
India may have misplaced one other wicket however Pant was dropped by Suranga Lakmal within the deep when he was on 4.
Vihari and Kohli confidently performed drives and cuts to lift a 47-run stand for the third wicket however as soon as it was damaged, batting appeared to be a problem.
The monitor at M Chinnaswamy stadium was devoid of any grass, India expectedly opted to bat whilst Rohit, who appeared fluent, and Agarwal additionally couldn’t utilise the chance to attain large.
Pacer Lakmal maintained a probing off-stump line however left-arm pacer Vishwa Fernando largely stored it on center and leg, from the place Rohit simply performed on-drives. Agarwal, who dispatched one over-pitched from Lakmal to cowl area boundary to begin off, threw away his wicket when he obtained himself run out within the second over of the day.
Fernando appealed for a leg earlier than however the umpire was unmoved. Agarwal appeared for a single however Rohit additionally took a few steps however stopped realising that there was no run on supply.
But it was too late for Agarwal to get again to his crease since he was already half-way down and was run-out.
Left-armer Fernando dug one brief and the Indian skipper dispatched that with ease into the spectators stand along with his trademark pull shot.
Left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya created an opportunity in his very first over when he induced an edge from Vihari however it simply fell in need of first slip.
However, he scalped the Indian captain, getting him caught within the second slip. The ball had flip and bounce because it took the sting and flew in the direction of de Silva, who accomplished the catch at gully.
Vihari survived when umpire judged him leg earlier than off Jayawickrama however the DRS evaluation confirmed that the ball was lacking the leg stump. He was 31. However the identical bowler had him caught behind quickly.
Kohli, who’s chasing an extended overdue Test hundred, grew in confidence however low-bounce didn’t enable him stretch his keep.
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