In their second innings of the first Test against Sri Lanka, India was bowled out for 193 at the Galle International Stadium on Tuesday. Rishabh Pant played a pivotal role, scoring a brisk 66 runs off 69 balls. This performance allowed India to set a challenging target of 372 runs for the Sri Lankan team. Notably, tea was taken nearly 20 minutes earlier than scheduled on Day 4 of the match.
Pant scored 66, while KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal also put in strong hands with 35 and 44, respectively, as the visitors looked for quick runs in an attempt to seek a result. Meanwhile, Asitha Fernando starred for Sri Lanka with his lethal shortish deliveries taking wickets of several of the Indian batters, while Prabath Jayasuriya picked three, Lahiru Kumara two, and Keshara Nuwantha one.
India started their second innings batting on Day 4 with a lead of 178 already in the bag. Pant was the anchor in chief of the innings as he scored his 20th Test half-century and, in the process, also completed 100 sixes in Test cricket, which makes him the first Indian to get to the milestone. Pant was measured in his approach in the first session and did not try anything fancy as the visitors ended the opening session 116/4, with a lead of 294.
Being more than a foot ahead of the hosts in Galle, they played with strong intent and did not sit back idle in the second innings. The strong association was broken when Prabath Jayasuriya got his first wicket of the innings, removing Rahul, caught at deep mid-off. Captain Shubman Gill came but did not survive long enough, falling to Jayasuriya LBW at eight after he hit a four.
