Amit Mishra made a case for himself to bat higher up the order with a delightful 39, putting on an attractive 55-run stand with Ravichandran Ashwin (27*) to take India to 234 for 8 at tea on Day Four of the third Test at Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC), Colombo. India enjoyed another productive session after lunch, losing the wickets of Stuart Binny and Naman Ojha but scoring runs at a rapid rate to stretch their already imposing lead to a massive 345. Mishra was unfortunate to be dismissed on the stroke of tea, clipping to short leg but getting run out thanks to Kaushal Silva’s fantastic reflexes. Binny was out for a crucial 49 while Naman once again got well set before throwing away his start, getting out for a well-compiled 35. Live Cricket Scorecard: India vs Sri Lanka, 3rd Test at Colombo (SSC)
Rohit Sharma scored an attractive 50 but fell immediately thereafter while Stuart Binny played an effective but lucky innings as India reached 132 for 5 at lunch. Binny and Naman Ojha were unbeaten at lunch, with India 243 runs ahead. Rohit and Virat Kohli resumed with India in trouble at 21 for 3 overnight, and put on a 57-run partnership before Kohli fell to his old foe, the off-stump line. Nuwan Pradeep took his third wicket of the innings when he induced a poke from Kohli outside off stump as Upul Tharanga took the catch at slip. That brought in Binny, who came out with the intent of scoring quick runs.
Binny and Rohit played with freedom, taking on the bowlers and upsetting the rhythm they had worked so hard to maintain. Rohit hit four fours and a six, while Binny hit seven boundaries in a stroke-filled but fortunate innings. Binny slogged at a few and either missed or edged wide of fielders, but he received a huge reprieve when he missed a ball from Rangana Herath only to see wicketkeeper Kusal Perera fluff an easy stumping chance. Binny ensured that Sri Lanka paid a price, remaining unbeaten on 38 at lunch with Naman for company. Live Cricket Updates: India vs Sri Lanka, 3rd Test, Colombo, Day 4
Earlier, Dhammika Prasad kept up with his trend of picking up a wicket early in the innings when he clean bowled India’s first-innings hero Cheteshwar Pujara for a two-ball duck. Nuwan Pradeep then picked up both KL Rahul and No. 3 Ajinkya Rahane to leave India reeling at 7 for 3. Rahul was dismissed in almost identical fashion to the way he was dismissed in the first innings, leaving a ball that seamed in slightly and getting bowled. Rahane meanwhile was caught on the crease, getting out LBW for 4. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma took India to 21 for 3 before the skies opened up once again and play had to be called off early for the third day in a row. READ: KL Rahul has talent, but lacks the consistency needed for Test cricket
Brief scores:
India 312 (Cheteshwar Pujara 145*, Amit Mishra 59; Dhammika Prasad 4 for 100) and 234 for 8 (Rohit Sharma 50, Stuart Binny 49; Nuwan Pradeep 3 for 51, Dhammika Prasad 3 for 64) lead Sri Lanka 201 (Kusal Perera 55, Rangana Herath 49; Ishant Sharma 5 for 54, Stuart Binny 2 for 24, Amit Mishra 2 for 25) by 345 runs.
(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek who loves cricket more than cricketers. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)
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