India close in despite Sooriyabandara, Kamindu fifties
Sri Lanka ended day four just 16 runs ahead after being asked to follow-on
After a potentially disastrous early day, India regained control of the Test match against Sri Lanka on the fourth day. The game had been on the brink of collapse due to the threat of bad weather, which had led to India enforcing the follow-on. At one point, Sri Lanka found themselves at 209 for 3, just four runs away from winning the match with seven wickets remaining.
Top-order batsmen Pasindu Sooriyabandara and Kamindu Mendis were the primary threat to India's bowlers, putting on a 58-run partnership for the second wicket and later a 115-run stand for the third wicket. However, Manav Suthar and Saransh Jain were more than capable of handling the Sri Lankan batting lineup. Suthar dismissed Dhananjaya de Silva and Sooriyabandara within two overs, while Jain took the wicket of Niroshan Dickwella.
By the time rain interrupted play, Sri Lanka had managed to add only 11 more runs to their total. The remaining hope for Sri Lanka appeared to lie with Sonal Dinusha, who had already scored two centuries in the series before this innings.
Written by urgent.news from The Island Sri Lanka's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
