COLOMBO: India stood seven wickets away from a series-clinching victory after setting Sri Lanka a formidable 386-run victory target on the penultimate day of the third and final Test in Colombo on Monday.

Having not won a series on the island in 22 years, the Indians put themselves in driving seat when the home team’s top order collapsed.

Sri Lanka, set a tough victory target of 386, lost three wickets for 21 runs before moving to 67 without further loss by stumps on a tense fourth day at the Sinhalese Sports Club.

Tempers flared in the final session as Ishant Sharma and the Sri Lankan fielders had a heated exchange after Dhammika Prasad bowled three consecutive bouncers to the Indian tailender.

Dinesh Chandimal nudged Sharma with his shoulder, forcing umpires Nigel Llong and Rod Tucker to step in to calm down the players.

As Sharma hurried off the field after the Indian innings ended, Prasad sprinted behind him and television pictures showed the two players speaking to each other outside the dressing rooms.

Rohit Sharma played down the on-field tension, saying he saw Ishant Sharma and Prasad chatting over tea after play.

“Such incidents happen,” he said. “They are actually very good friends off the field. I just saw them having tea together after the game, which is good.”

Sharma, who was fined 65 percent of his match fee for misconduct during the second Test, vented his anger with the ball when Sri Lanka’s second innings began in their first Test since batting great Kumar Sangakkara retired last week.

The lanky seamer had Upul Tharanga edging his sixth delivery to wicket-keeper Naman Ojha, and Chandimal was caught by skipper Virat Kohli at second slip after the ball bounced out of third slip Lokesh Rahul’s hands.

In between, Umesh Yadav forced Dimuth Karunaratne to edge a catch to Ojha.

But opener Kaushal Silva and skipper Angelo Mathews stemmed the rot with an unbroken 46-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Sri Lanka will begin the final day’s play on Tuesday needing 319 more to win in a minimum of 98 overs, with Silva unbeaten on 24 and Mathews on 22.

India have not won a Test series in Sri Lanka since 1993 when Mohammad Azharuddin’s men clinched a 1-0 victory.

Having taken a 111-run first-innings lead, India consolidated their position in the first two sessions on the fourth day to virtually bat Sri Lanka out of the contest.

Resolute batting by the lower order had lifted their second innings to 274, with the last six wickets contributing 210 runs after the top four had fallen for 64.

The revival began with a 54-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Rohit Sharma (50) and Stuart Binny (49) before Ravichandran Ashwin smashed 58 to boost the total.

Rohit Sharma gifted his wicket soon after he reached his fourth Test half-century before lunch, hooking Prasad to Nuwan Pradeep on the fine-leg fence.

Binny, who was out first ball in the first innings, came up with a more eventful knock — playing some risky shots, surviving a stumping opportunity, being hit on the helmet by Prasad and eventually falling agonisingly short of his second Test fifty.

Ojha scored 35, but Amit Mishra (39) and Ashwin increased the lead with a 55-run stand for the eighth wicket.

Prasad and Pradeep finished with four wickets each on a seaming pitch where 15 wickets had fallen on the third day.

Prasad bowled with characteristic hostility but Pradeep drew first blood, dismissing India captain Virat Kohli who again succumbed to his penchant for pushing at deliveries outside the off-stump.

Kohli earlier added 20 runs to his overnight score of one before edging to first slip, where Tharanga took the catch on the second attempt.

The dismissal broke a valuable stand of 57 for the fourth wicket between Kohli and Rohit Sharma after India had been reduced to 7-3 on Sunday evening.

Rohit Sharma looked more convincing, hitting Pradeep for back-to-back boundaries before getting out.

Sharma said he hoped India can win, just as they did in the second Test where Sri Lanka were bowled out for 134 chasing a target of 413.

“We are in a very good position right now,” he said. “Most of the wickets have been taken by the seamers but the spinners have also done well.

“A target of 380-plus is never easy for any team and I guess we will just have to come out tomorrow and do what we did in the previous match. One more job, and we are through.”—Agencies

Scoreboard

INDIA (1st Innings) 312 (C.A. Pujara 145 not out, A. Mishra 59; K.T.G.D. Prasad 4-100, H.M.R.K.B. Herath 3-84). SRI LANKA (1st Innings) 201 (M.D.K.J. Perera 55, H.M.R.K.B. Herath 49; I. Sharma 5-54, S.T.R. Binny 2-24, A. Mishra 2-25). INDIA (2nd Innings, overnight 21-3): C.A. Pujara b Prasad 0 K.L. Rahul b Pradeep 2 A.M. Rahane lbw b Pradeep 4 V. Kohli c Tharanga b Pradeep 21 R.G. Sharma c Pradeep b Prasad 50 S.T.R. Binny c Tharanga b Prasad 49 N.V. Ojha c Karunaratne b Herath 35 A. Mishra run out 39 R. Ashwin c Perera b Prasad 58 U.T. Yadav c Herath b Pradeep 4 I. Sharma not out 2 EXTRAS (B-1, LB-1, W-3, NB-5) 10 TOTAL (all out, 76 overs) 274 FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-2, 3-7, 4-64, 5-118, 6-160, 7-179, 8-234, 9-269. BOWLING: Prasad 19-3-69-4 (4nb, 2w); Pradeep 17-2-62-4 (1w); Herath 22-0-89-1; Mathews 6-3-11-0; Kaushal 12-2-41-0 (1nb). SRI LANKA (2nd Innings): W.U. Tharanga c Ojha b I. Sharma 0 J.K. Silva not out 24 F.D.M. Karunaratne c Ojha b Yadav 0 L.D. Chandimal c Kohli b I. Sharma 18 A.D. Mathews not out 22 EXTRAS (LB-2, NB-1) 3 TOTAL (for three wkts, 18.1 overs) 67 FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-2, 3-21. BOWLING (to-date): I. Sharma 7-2-14-2 (1nb); Yadav 5-1-32-1; Binny 4-1-13-0; Mishra 2-0-2-0; Ashwin 0.1-0-4-0.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2015

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