2nd Test: Padikkal’s second ton, Gill’s fifty put India slightly ahead of Sri Lanka
Colombo, Aug 23 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) Devdutt Padikkal continued his sublime run by hitting a brilliant second Test century before Sri Lanka hit back late with the second new ball to restrict India to 300/5 in 85 overs at stumps on Day One of the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) Ground in Colombo on Sunday.
After electing to bat first on winning the toss, India looked set to dominate after Padikkal (117) and Ravindra Jadeja (43) added a 74-run partnership in the final session. Padikkal, who was dropped twice on zero and one, brought up his second Test hundred in consecutive matches with a series of precise cuts, which was his most productive shot of the day, off Prabath Jayasuriya, before accelerating after reaching the milestone.
The highlight of the day was Padikkal’s quiet authority, with his technique and temperament adding immense depth and putting the long-standing debate around India’s number three spot comprehensively to rest.
Though he endured a few nervous moments and survived a couple of dropped catches early in his innings, Padikkal swiftly locked in to become a deeply calming presence at the crease. The highlight of his mastery was his method against the spinners — judging length exceptionally early and playing late off the back foot.
Though Asitha Fernando’s three-wicket haul has kept Sri Lanka in the game, India are well-poised to get a big first-innings total, thanks to Dhruv Jurel and debutant Saransh Jain unbeaten at the crease on seven and four respectively. Apart from Padikkal hitting 12 boundaries in his sublime knock, skipper Shubman Gill hit his first fifty in Sri Lanka off 108 balls, laced with six boundaries.
In the morning, batting first on a pitch giving ample assistance to seamers, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul made a steady start, as 30 of their opening stand of 37 runs came via boundaries mainly. Against the seamers who got enough seam movement, the modus operandi was to get boundaries via drives on fuller balls.
But Rahul was set up by short-pitched deliveries before nicking behind off a lazy cut off wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella off Lahiru Kumara’s bowling to fall for 18. Padikkal joined Jaiswal but endured a nervous initiation. Before opening his account, Padikkal was dropped at backward point off Kumara as Sonal Dinusha failed to hold on to the catch.
Sometime later, Padikkal earned a reprieve when captain Dhananjaya de Silva spilt a regulation chance at slip against off-spinner Keshara Nuwantha. At the other end, Jaiswal stepped up the aggression in the 17th over by dispatching Fernando for three consecutive boundaries – an elegant drive past mid-on was followed by a ramp over slip, and a swivel pull through backward square leg.
But Fernando had the last laugh on the final ball of the over by nipping one back off the seam to castle Jaiswal for 45. A fiery send-off from the pacer led to a tense and ugly face-to-face verbal altercation with Jaiswal, where a bit of shovelling and headbutting via Jaiswal’s helmet also happened.
It’s something that can attract a huge fine for Jaiswal from match referee Andy Pycroft. De Silva then intervened and separated the two before Jaiswal walked off the field. Gill joined Padikkal and safely negotiated the remaining overs to take India to the lunch break without further damage.
Resuming after lunch, Gill and Padikkal continued to build steadily against an increasingly frustrated Sri Lankan attack. Padikkal, who survived an early short-pitched bowling test, settled down and brought out the drive, pull and cuts to reach his fifty off 90 balls by crunching a boundary through the covers off Prabath Jayasuriya.
The pair brought up their century stand off 168 deliveries as Sri Lanka resorted to negative tactics, with spinners Jayasuriya and Keshara Nuwantha firing deliveries down the leg stump to test the batters’ patience. It meant multiple wides were called and forced the spinners back onto bowling a competitive line.
Gill, who managed just 16 and eight in the series opener in Galle, was fluent in his front-foot play to reach his ninth Test half-century off 99 balls by flicking through fine leg for a single. Just as India looked set to complete a wicketless session in the Colombo heat, Fernando produced a breakthrough against the run of play.
Pitching one on back on a length and wide of off stump, Fernando induced a loose slash from Gill, and had him edging behind to wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella, who clung on to the catch on the second attempt.
Fernando almost got his second wicket when he struck Pant low on the pad with a full, inswinging delivery. But the umpire turned down the vociferous appeal, with replays suggesting the angle would have carried the ball past leg stump, as the tea break arrived.
The final session began with a big blow for India when wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant was forced to retire hurt after taking a sharp hit on a Lahiru Kumara bouncer to his left wrist. Pant’s availability for the remainder of the match remains uncertain, though he was padded up later in the evening.
After that, Jadeja arrived and got his boundaries by picking the length quickly. Padikkal, on the other hand, continued his smooth run by getting his second consecutive century and got loud applause from the dressing room. With Padikkal nailing his backfoot cuts, the pressure on Sri Lanka to get a breakthrough became huge.
Skipper Dhananjaya de Silva’s move to bring back off-spinner Keshara Nuwantha paid immediate dividends when Nuwantha pushed a 91kph quicker delivery from around the wicket and beat Padikkal’s back-foot defence to crash into off-stump and dismiss him for 117.
Jurel then joined Jadeja, who was battling severe left-arm cramps and required multiple visits from the Indian team physio after being hit there. Jadeja survived until the 85th over, when Asitha Fernando breached his defence with the second new ball through a picture-perfect inswinger from around the wicket, as the batter offered no shot.
Jain immediately got off the mark with a late cut to the backward point boundary, and brought up the 300-run mark for India in the final over of the day, before stumps arrived. Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers laboured in hot and humid conditions, but Fernando’s late strike ensured the hosts ended a compelling day’s play on equal footing.
Brief scores:
India 300/5 in 85 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 117, Shubman Gill 50; Asitha Fernando 3-46, Lahiru Kumara 1-38) against Sri Lanka
—
