Sri Lanka’s injury woes continued unabated for the second match in a row, and so did India’s domination of the hosts.

After piling up their second straight 600-plus first-innings total on this tour, India opened up the game with early strikes through R Ashwin (2/38) on the second day of the second Test here at the SSC Ground on Friday. Overnight 344 for three, India declared their innings closed at 622 for nine in 158 overs, just eight overs after tea during which they clobbered 63 runs. It was never going to be easy to survive the remaining 20 overs for the day without any damage given the pressure of mountain of runs on the board and a hint of turn on the pitch.

As if to rub salt into their injuries, the lone pacer in the 11, Nuwan Pradeep, was ruled out of the remainder of the match. He is expected to be out for at least a month or so. This is the second instance in as many matches that Lanka have been left with just 10 players, following Asela Gunaratne’s injury in the Galle Test.

India, however, meant business. Coming into bowl the second over of the innings, Ashwin found the success straightaway by nixing Upul Tharanga with the last ball of his first over. KL Rahul did well to hold on to a flick from the left-hander at short-leg. Thereafter, Kusal Mendis and Dimuth Karunaratne faced many difficult questions from Ashwin but had few answers. The off-spinner found generous amount of drift, turn and bounce on a crumbling surface and Karunaratne finally ran out of luck when he edged a delivery that drifted and turned away from the southpaw. Ajinkya Rahane completed the formalities at slip. Mendis (16 n.o.) and skipper Dinesh Chandimal (8 n.o.) saw off the day without any damage but how long can they keep the Indian bowlers at bay? At 50/2, they are still 572 runs behind India’s total.

In the morning, India continued to prosper despite the early dismissal of Cheteshwar Pujara (133, 323m, 232b, 11x4, 1x6), who added just five more runs to his overnight total. The right-hander became the maiden Test victim of Karunaratne who bowls innocuous seam-up deliveries. After being hit for a four, the bowler came back with a perfect reply as he got one to beat the bat of Pujara and rap his back pad. The umpire didn’t oblige Karunaratne’s appeal but the review went in favour of Sri Lanka, ending a 217-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Lanka couldn’t have asked for a better start to the day but their bowlers simply failed to exert any pressure on the Indian batsmen. Rahane (132, 284m, 222b, 14x4) and Ashwin (54, 119m, 92b, 5x4, 1x6) negotiated the all-spin attack of Lanka, save for the military medium pace of Karunaratne, with little trouble. Ashwin, especially looked in great control and produced some exquisite drives through the off. He also reached 2000 Test runs during the course of his 11th half-century and raised 63 runs for the fifth wicket with Rahane who became the maiden scalp of debutant Malinda Pushpakumara (2/156).

Ashwin added a further 38 in the company of Wriddhiman Saha (67, 165m, 134b, 4x4, 1x6) for the sixth wicket while Hardik Pandya, who walked in after Ashwin’s fall, was out after a typically run-a-ball 20.

That linked up Saha with Jadeja (70 n.o., 106m, 85b, 4x4, 3x6) and the two took India’s total past 550. While Saha paced his innings nicely, Jadeja exploded after a cautious start. The right-left combination further extended Lanka’s stay on the field with 72-run association for the eighth wicket before Saha fell in the same fashion as Rahane – stumped by Dickwella off Rangana Herath (4/154). Shami struck a breezy 8-ball-19 that helped India declare at an imposing total with ample overs for their bowlers to make some dent.

Scoreboard
INDIA (I Innings; O/n: 344/3):
Dhawan lbw Dilruwan 35
(47m, 37b, 5x4, 1x6)
Rahul (run out) 57
(129m, 82b, 7x4)
Pujara lbw Karunaratne 133
(323m, 232b, 11x4, 1x6)
Kohli c Mathews b Herath 13
(31m, 29b, 2x4)
Rahane st D’wella b P’kumara 132
(284m, 222b, 14x4)
Ashwin b Herath 54
(119m, 92b, 5x4, 1x6)
Saha st Dickwella b Herath 67
(165m, 134b, 4x4, 1x6)
Pandya c Mathews b P’kumara 20
(41m, 20b, 3x4)
Jadeja (not out) 70
(106m, 85b, 4x4, 3x6)
Shami c Tharanga b Herath 19
(12m, 8b, 1x4, 2x6)
Umesh (not out) 8
(14m, 9b, 1x4)
Extras (B-8, LB-4, NB-2) 14
Total (9 wkts decl, 158 overs) 622
Fall of wickets: 1-56 (Dhawan), 2-109 (Rahul), 3-133 (Kohli), 4-350 (Pujara), 5-413 (Rahane), 6-451 (Ashwin), 7-496 (Pandya), 8-568 (Saha), 9-598 (Shami).
Bowling: Pradeep 17.4-2-63-0, Herath 42-7-154-4, Karunaratne 8-0-31-0, Dilruwan 40-3-147-1(nb-2), Pushpakumara 38.2-2-156-2, D de Silva 12-0-59-0.
SRI LANKA (I Innings):
Karunaratne c Rahane b Ashwin 25
(48m, 45b, 2x4)
Tharanga c Rahul b Ashwin 0
(6m, 6b)
Mendis (batting) 16
(62m, 48b, 3x4)
Chandimal (batting) 8
(20m, 21b, 1x6)
Extras (LB-1) 1
Total (for 2 wkts, 20 overs) 50
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Tharanga), 2-33 (Karunaratne). Bowling: Shami 3-1-7-0, Ashwin 10-2-38-2, Jadeja 7-4-4-0.

India continue to rule Lanka with an iron fist