Sri Lanka closed the fourth day of the first Test against India on 84 for 4, needing a further 288 runs to reach a victory target of 372, after losing Dinesh Chandimal to concussion protocols before the chase had even begun.
India were bowled out for 193 in their second innings, Rishabh Pant top-scoring with 66 and Devdutt Padikkal making 44. Asitha Fernando was the pick of the Sri Lanka attack with 4 for 41.
Chandimal withdrawn
Chandimal was injured in the first session while fielding, striking his shoulder and head heavily on the ground. Precautionary scans showed no internal injury, but he was withdrawn from the rest of the match after a concussion assessment by the team doctor and physiotherapist at the ground, NewsFirst reported.
Sri Lanka named Pasindu Sooriyabandara as his concussion replacement, a substitution approved by the match referee under ICC regulations.
India bat on, then strike
Asitha removed Yashasvi Jaiswal cutting — the seventh time Jaiswal has fallen to that shot against pace — before KL Rahul and Padikkal added 65. Sri Lanka then took the wickets of Rahul, Padikkal, Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel in relatively quick succession either side of lunch.
India batted on after Pant fell with the lead at 352, eventually finishing 371 ahead with four sessions left to take ten wickets. A brief rain interruption left them roughly two and three-quarter hours at Sri Lanka that evening.
They used it well. Ten of the first 20 overs were bowled by seamers, and Sri Lanka were 41 for 3. Mohammed Siraj bounced out Nishan Madushka, who failed to keep a hook down. Prasidh Krishna returned figures of 5-2-9-1, dismissing Kusal Mendis, again to a cut. Ravindra Jadeja had Dhananjaya de Silva caught at first slip but had overstepped. Manav Suthar then had Lahiru Udara taken low at gully by Jurel, a catch the third umpire allowed after finding fingers underneath the ball.
Bad light stopped play at 6.08pm, with captain Dhananjaya de Silva unbeaten on 31 and Sonal Dinusha — who made his maiden Test century in the first innings — on 25. Suthar had 2 for 30.
A total of 280 overs had been bowled in the match by the close. Sri Lanka need 288 on the final day; India need six wickets.
