Now Reading: Sri Lanka need 39 to avoid follow-on on Day 4 in Colombo
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Sri Lanka need 39 to avoid follow-on on Day 4 in Colombo
On Day 4 of the second Test between India and Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka are 265/8 in their first innings, needing 39 more runs to avoid the follow-on. India declared…
On Day 4 of the second Test between India and Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka are 265/8 in their first innings, needing 39 more runs to avoid the follow-on. India declared their first innings at 503/9. Overnight batsmen Sonal Dinusha remains unbeaten on 85, with Lahiru Kumara on 8.
Sri Lanka lost wickets regularly on Day 3. Pasindu Sooriyabandara top-scored with 80, while captain Dhananjaya de Silva managed only eight. Ravindra Jadeja, Prasidh Krishna and Manav Suthar shared the wickets. For India, Devdutt Padikkal (117) and Dhruv Jurel (115*) hit centuries in the first innings. Rishabh Pant made 63 after retiring hurt on Day 1.
India lead the two-match series 1-0, having won the first Test in Galle by 165 runs. Play will resume on Day 5 if needed, but India's strong position leaves them likely to push for victory.
Indian Opinion Analysis
This is only the second time India have enforced the follow-on in a Test since January 2020, and the first under the new captain Shubman Gill. Sri Lanka's 265/8 is not dire, but the overnight pair of Sonal Dinusha (85*) and Lahiru Kumara (8*) face India's varied attack, pace, spin and left-arm angle, on a fourth-day Colombo pitch that is expected to slow further. The immediate target is 39 runs to avoid the follow-on, how many more Sri Lanka can add with only two wickets in hand will shape India's second-innings declaration plans. The SSC ground record for a winning fourth-innings chase in Tests is 347, set by Sri Lanka in 2001.
Source: aajtak.in
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
