Niroshan Dickwella and Sonal Dinusha mounted a stirring second-session counter-attack for Sri Lanka by striking unbeaten half-centuries to lead a brilliant recovery in the second session on day three’s play of the first Test against India.
Indian skipper Shubman Gill rotated his attack, including bringing back pacers Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna for brief spells of reverse swing, but the pitch yielded little joy for the seamers, as Dickwella and Dinusha brought Sri Lanka back into the match. Resuming from 99/5, Sri Lanka looked in danger of conceding a massive first-innings deficit. But Dickwella, playing a Test match after three years, and Dinusha exhibited exceptional composure on a turning pitch, including sweeping and reverse-sweeping very well, by adding 124 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket stand, thus denying India the opportunity to put pressure on them.
