Players Details
Fixture & Results
Ball dominates as SL close in
18th November 2017
Following the Indian innings that folded for 172, Sri Lanka could put up 165 for 4 during the third day of the three test series at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata here today. With the Indian team exhibiting a low boat during the first two days, the innings commenced with hopes of a resurgence.
The match commenced with umpires Nigel long and Joel Wilson, after the latter had to come in place of Richard Kettleborough who was suffering a throat infection. Anil Chaudhury served as the TV umpire for the day.
Continuing to inflict their terror against their Indian counterpart Sri Lanka looked to tweak a different draft in the day three bringing in Rangana Herath and Dilruvan Perera. Later it went on to prove a good gamble as Perera pulled out two wickets.
Following his sixteenth international test century studded with ten boundaries Pujara got dismissed for 52 to a delivery that was facilitated by an abnormal variation off the pitch. The ball curved in all the way sneaking between his bat and pad taking off the off stump.
However as the innings progressed and Wridhhiman Saha got the hang of the wicket all he did was improvise on the pitch as Jadeja joined him. The Sri Lankan wicketkeeper missed stumping Saha who was at 25 but he soon got dismissed. Saha who attempted a paddle sweep suffered big deal mistiming it as it was comfortably collected in the first slip. A dismissal that appeared to have been unjust but Saha was sent off the field for 29 after a review was sought for.
While the lower order of the Indian team looked to be closing out after Saha and Jadeja’s dismissal at 29 and 22 respectively, Shami’s bonus innings of 24 runs took the team to a wafer thin safety. With Shami getting caught at deep midwicket after mistiming a pull India’s innings came to a close at 172.
A determined and confident looking Sri Lankan team commenced the innings with a boundary off the first ball. While Bhuvaneshwar Kumar’s first ball was sent off for a boundary his spells are evidences to the fact that there was much more in store for the home team than just the first boundary.
An unlucky Umesh sawa chance fall inches short of Lahiru Thirimanne who was then batting at 27 during the third delivery of the eighteenth over after teammate Shikhar Dhawan grassed a seater in the first slip. Thirimanne who later went on to score a half century putting up 51 on the score board eventually got sent off by Umesh. While Bhuvi picked up two wickets each of Sadeera Samarawickrama and Dimuth Karunaratne, teammate Umesh Yadav followed suit picking up Lahiru Thirimanne and Angelo Matthews.
At stumps Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella were batting at 13 and 14 respectively as Lankans trail by 7 runs at the end of day three. Forty one minutes of gameplay was lost after the match was called off due to bad light.
CAB MEDIA DESK
Saptaswa Mukerjee
