The second Test between India and Sri Lanka at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo ended in a draw, as the Shubman Gill-led side had no answer to Sonal Dinusha’s resistance. The day started with Sri Lanka enjoying a 16-run lead, but with only four wickets remaining, India entered as the favourites. However, as the clock turned noon, the Dhananjaya de Silva-led side grew in confidence and put pressure back on India.
As time passed, Sri Lanka only strengthened their grip. Dinusha eventually completed his century in the third session of the day and with that, he became only the third Sri Lanka cricketer after Aravinda de Silva and Kumar Sangakkara to hit three centuries in a two-match series. As the game progressed, many experts predicted that Sri Lanka might declare with 20 overs remaining and around 200 to get, but that didn’t happen.
The hosts lost nine wickets, but they kept batting and interestingly, captain Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal also rotated their arms in the hope of finding a breakthrough, but that never came. Eventually, Sri Lanka declared with nearly 15 overs remaining, but India instead decided to settle for a draw as Shubman Gill offered to shake hands, which the hosts accepted.
Where could India have done better?
India posted 503 runs in the first innings of the Test. Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel scored centuries each as the visitors dominated the proceedings. However, given that the fact that rain could play the spoiler, the team management could have declared early. However, their goal was to bat once in the match and then go for a spectacular innings win.
After Sri Lanka were bundled for 290 runs in the first innings, the move made sense. However, as the game progressed and the wicket became more batting-friendly, things got complicated for India as they had to settle for a draw and complicate their objective of qualifying for the World Test Championship.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, would be much happier to pull off a draw against all the odds. They were patient in their approach and that was key. Credit goes to Sonal, who played a pivotal role in the entire Test series and was adjudged a Player of the Match. Batting at three, Pasindu Sooriyabandara was extremely vital as well, scoring 80 and 92 in both innings of the Colombo Test.
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