Shreyas Iyer’s superb counter-attacking 92 (98b, 10x4, 4x6) helped India establish a stranglehold on the second Test against Sri Lanka at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
On a pitch that offered uneven bounce and prodigious turn as early as the first hour — not a pleasant sight for a neutral — Shreyas scored at breakneck speed to carry India to 252.
Match-winning halo
By stumps, the Mumbai batter’s effort had acquired a match-winning halo around it, with the visitors reduced to 86 for six. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami made the pink ball talk under lights, scalping five of the six wickets to fall.
Earlier in the afternoon, Rohit Sharma elected to bat on what he called a “very dry pitch.” But the start was less than ideal, with both Mayank Agarwal and Rohit out with just 29 on the board. Mayank self-destructed, running himself out by going for a non-existent single off what turned out to be a no-ball.
Hanuma Vihari (31, 81b, 4x4) and Virat Kohli (23, 48b, 2x4) combined for a solid 47-run third-wicket partnership. But left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama outwitted Vihari, drawing him forward and finding the edge that wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella lapped up. Rishabh Pant (39, 26b, 7x4) was lucky not to be dismissed off the third ball he faced, dropped by Suranga Lakmal at deep mid-wicket while trying to clear Jayawickrama.
In the next over, Dimuth Karunaratne introduced off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva and the latter struck gold immediately, trapping Kohli in front with a ball that turned sharply and kept low.
Flurry of fours
Post-tea, Pant hit a flurry of fours but was bowled trying to cut a delivery from Lasith Embuldeniya that was neither short nor wide. Ravindra Jadeja, the first Test hero, fell cheaply, caught in the slips for four.
It was then Shreyas’ turn to enthral. He started with a cracking four in front of square and a gorgeous drive to the cover fence. Sandwiched between the two shots was a wild switch-hit, which Shreyas, to his credit, quickly forgot.
The 27-year-old feasted on some wayward bowling and brought up his half-century (54b) by hoisting de Silva for back-to-back sixes over deep mid-wicket. He raised his bat and held his helmet in ‘Tendulkaresque’ fashion. It was that good an innings.
Shreyas was reprieved thrice, on 50, 68 and 82. But he continued like a monk, with an unperturbed mind and uncluttered approach. Abstinence, though, wasn’t part of this. He moved into the 80s with a massive six down the ground and a clubbed four to mid-wicket and then sent Embuldeniya soaring over long-off. Shreyas was eventually out stumped, trying one shot too many. But by then, the capacity crowd had had its fill and India a firm grip.
