{
  "id": 3505842,
  "title": "India close in despite Sooriyabandara, Kamindu fifties",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/26/india-close-in-despite-sooriyabandara-kamindu-fifties-3505842",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-26T12:17:08.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Island Sri Lanka",
    "slug": "the-island-sri-lanka",
    "url": "http://island.lk/india-close-in-despite-sooriyabandara-kamindu-fifties/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.",
  "summary": "Playing just his second Test and the first in his team’s starting XI, Pasindu Sooriyabandara made Sri Lanka dream of the rarest of possibilities, but reality imposed itself on the SSC late on day four as India regained their grip on a Test match that had seemed to spiral out of control after the threat […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "ESPNcricinfo",
        "title": "India close in despite Sooriyabandara, Kamindu fifties",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/26/india-close-in-despite-sooriyabandara-kamindu-fifties",
        "published": "2026-08-26T12:25:51.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}