Heavy showers cry halt to day's play

Kohli's men end on 50/2 on a rain-hit day one

For the second time in this series rain had a say in the day’s proceedings but in a much bigger way. After wiping out 40 minutes of play in the second Test, heavy rain battered the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC), allowing just 15 overs of action possible on the opening day of the third Test here on Friday.

With Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews winning a good toss and having India in spot of bother at 50/2, rain came pounding down at the SSC with just 75 minutes of play gone by. The heavy downpour continued for an hour, turning the entire stadium into a pond.

The intensity reduced after an hour but with dark clouds hanging and rain still continuing in short spells, the groundsman had to keep the entire playing ground covered. The rain stopped around 1.30 pm as the covers beagn coming off.

The umpires conducted their first inspection at 3.30 pm but just when the motley crowd hoped some play would be possible, the rain began to trickle down again. With the covers back on for the second time and outfield being too wet to play, umpires Nigel Llong and Rod Tucker called off play at 3.50 pm. Cheteshwar Pujara (19 batting) and Virat Kohli (14 batting) were at crease, surviving some superb bowling in favourable conditions.

Early blow
If not for the rain, the opening hour had enough ingredients for an interesting day’s action. With the relaid SSC track sporting a liberal coating of grass on a heavily overcast morning, Mathews didn’t think twice before inserting India in.

Lead pacer Dhammika Prasad immediately vindicated Mathews’ decision by sending KL Rahul back with the second ball of the day.

The Indian opener offered no shot to a ball pitched outside off stump but to his dismay it nipped back sharply to clip his bails, thus succumbing to an in-coming ball for the second straight time.

With plenty of zip in the air and pitch too offering plenty of bounce, Lankan pacers Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep and Angelo Mathews caused plenty of problems for the Indian batsmen. They kept pitching the ball up constantly, ready to sacrifice a few boundaries in bargain for early wickets.

That ploy worked to the hilt against Ajinkya Rahane. Centurion in the previous match, the Mumbaikar walked in confidently and looked solid until his dismissal to a fine delivery from Pradeep.

The Lankan pitched the ball up and Rahane failed to get his bat across to the fast and full one, leaving umpire Long with a simple decision as India were reduced to 15/2.

Prasad suffers

Just when the Sri Lankans were hot on India’s heels, the visitors were hit by a minor setback when Prasad had to go off the field for a couple of overs to tend to a niggle. But Mathews, despite not being as quick as Prasad, kept it tight while Pradeep asked both Pujara and Kohli plenty of questions in the middle of the park. Apart from bowling a fine full length, he got a few balls to kick off from good length to make life difficult for Pujara and Kohli. He nearly had the back of the Indian skipper but Kusal Perera, making his Test debut and wicketkeeping in place of Dinesh Chandimal, dropped a inside edge chance.

Thereafter, barring an odd loose shot when he went chasing a full and wide delivery that resulted in a edge, Kohli soaked up the pressure and batted resolutely. Pujara too, returning to the side after being dropped from the fourth Test in Australia, slugged it out in demanding conditions and probing bowling.

They saw off the difficult phase to set up an interesting battle. But rain had the final say, leaving the duo with the task of carrying India’s hopes on Saturday.