BANGALORE: Shreyas Iyer’s attacking 92 and inspired bowling put India in command of the pink ball Test against Sri Lanka on Saturday’s opening day.

Iyer made India, who lead the two-match series 1-0, claw back to 252 all out from a precarious 86-4 after they elected to bat first in Bangalore.

Sri Lanka finished the day on 86 for six, still trailing the hosts by 166 runs.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Niros­han Dickwella, on 13, and Lasith Embuldeniya, on nought, were batting at stumps after fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah ended a gritty knock by Angelo Mathews.

Mathews fell for 43 to become Bumrah’s third wicket after Kusal Mendis and Lahiru Thirimanne.

Bumrah and Mohammed Shami combined to reduce Sri Lanka to 28-4 as the pace duo made the pink ball swing and seam in the final session under lights.

Shami bowled skipper Dimuth Karunaratne for four and trapped Dhananjaya de Silva for 10 to raise the pitch of the weekend crowd at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

For India, Iyer put on crucial partnerships including a 40-run fifth-wicket partnership with Rishabh Pant, who hit 39, to thwart the Sri Lankan spin attack.

Embuldeniya and fellow left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawick­rama took three wickets each while De Silva took two with his off spin.

The left-handed Pant attempted to hit back after the top-order wobble as he smashed seven fours in his 26-ball stay before falling to Embuldeniya after tea.

Iyer, who survived dropped catches on 50 and 82, soon took over and finished with 10 fours and four sixes in his 98-ball knock.

He missed out on his century after being stumped off Jayawi­ckrama and India’s innings folded in an extended second session as evening fell.

Earlier, Virat Kohli made 23 and put on 47 runs for the third wicket with Hanuma Vihari as the pair attempted to rebuild the innings.

Jayawickrama broke the stand after sending back Vihari for 31 and De Silva got Kohli trapped lbw in the next over to put India in trouble.

Kohli last scored an international century in India’s first-ever pink ball Test against Bangladesh in Nov 2019.

Skipper Rohit Sharma hit a six to signal his intent but fell to Embuld­eniya after making just 15.—AFP

Scoreboard

INDIA (1st Innings):

M. Agarwal run out 4

R. Sharma c de Silva b Embuldeniya 15

H. Vihari c Dickwella b Jayawickrama 31

V. Kohli lbw b de Silva 23

R. Pant b Embuldeniya 39

S. Iyer st Dickwella b Jayawickrama 92

R. Jadeja c Thirimanne b Embuldeniya 4

R. Ashwin c Dickwella b de Silva 13

A. Patel b Lakmal 9

M. Shami c de Silva b Jayawickrama 5

J. Bumrah not out 0

EXTRAS (B-7, LB-8, NB-2) 17

TOTAL (all out, 59.1 overs) 252

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-10 (Agarwal), 2-29 (Rohit), 3-76 (Vihari), 4-86 (Kohli), 5-126 (Pant), 6-148 (Jadeja), 7-183 (Ashwin), 8-215 (Axar), 9-229 (Shami), 10-252 (Iyer)

BOWLING: Lakmal 8-3-12-1; Fernando 3-0-18-0 (1nb); Embuldeniya 24-2-94-3 (1nb); Jayawickrama 17.1-3-81-3; De Silva 7-1-32-2

SRI LANKA (1st Innings):

K. Mendis c Iyer b Bumrah 2

D. Karunaratne b Shami 4

L. Thirimanne c Iyer b Bumrah 8

A. Mathews c Sharma b Bumrah 43

D. de Silva lbw b Shami 10

C. Asalanka c Ashwin b Patel 5

N. Dickwella not out 13

L. Embuldeniya not out 0

EXTRAS (B-1) 1

TOTAL (for six wkts, 30 overs) 86

STILL TO BAT: S. Lakmal, V. Fernando, P. Jayawickrama

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-2 (Mendis), 2-14 (Thirimanne), 3-14 (Karunaratne), 4-28 (de Silva,), 5-50 (Asalanka), 6-85 (Mathews)

BOWLING (to-date): Bumrah 7-3-15-3; Ashwin 6-1-16-0; Shami 6-1-18-2; Jadeja 6-1-15-0; Patel 5-1-21-1

UMPIRES: Anil Chaudhary, Nitin Menon (both India)

TV UMPIRE: Virender Sharma (India)

MATCH REFEREE: Javagal Srinath (India)

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2022