Sri Lanka’s batsmen gave Bumrah 5 for 24, his first five-wicket haul in India and eighth overall. But Bumrah’s advantage is that he does not hunt alone. The pack includes Mohammed Shami, who seams the ball in all conditions and sets up the batsmen with extreme deceit. R Ashwin takes over as Bumrah’s new-ball partner at the rank turners in India and he not only targets the leading batsman, he has plenty of tricks in the bag for the tail, as he did with Suranga Lakmal and Vishwa Fernando. proved to be a fool. It seems that as the captain of the team, Rohit Sharma has the knife of the Cricket Swiss Army. Every situation, every demand, solution is at hand. In the day-night Test, it was not only easy, it was very good for the opposition.
At the start of the first day, when the ball was turning, India’s batsmen had enough means to put up a decent total on the board. Then when the lights came on and the ball started swinging a bit, they had fast bowlers who could support them. On the second day, Sri Lanka lost by 23 for 4 in 5.5 overs, their resistance lasting 27 minutes. With a lead of 143, India’s batsmen could go there and do their bit without the fear of pressure from the scoreboard.
But, being so far ahead, the batsmen probably didn’t focus too much on the performance in the first innings. Both Rohit and Hanuma Vihari started off, only to throw away their wickets, with the former caught over the fence and the latter trying to sweep straight. And what about Virat Kohli? For the second time in the game he got a ball that was kept low. You have to give him that much, but for the second time in all these days he played right back, and was plumb in front when his attempt to get the ball onside failed. India in crisis? You would think so, but Sri Lanka would have known better by now. The way this team progresses, many of those records are about to be rewritten.
No comments:
Post a Comment