(ESPNCRICINFO) – India are six wickets from winning the Galle Test after a fourth day on which they scored enough to leave Sri Lanka needing a record chase, and their bowlers put together a relentlessly testing session for the hosts. On a pitch that continued its progression towards the typical brute it becomes towards the end in Galle, Rishabh Pant’s maverick innings of 66 off 69 made sure India all but batted the hosts out of the Test. Mohammed Siraj, Manav Suthar and Prasidh Krishna then took the wickets to eliminate the likelihood Sri Lanka might have hoped for of winning.
With India starting 178 ahead, this was always going to be a day that could be played on a simulator. While it reached the expected end, the game certainly took the scenic route. Sri Lanka were better with their control with the ball, their fast bowlers bowled some heat in the middle session, and Pant had to pull out some Pant specials to make sure India kept scoring at around four an over as they likely juggled thoughts of scoring quickly and also a declaration with the rain always lurking in Galle. In the end, they didn’t need the declaration with Asitha Fernando taking 4 for 31, the best figures by a Sri Lanka quick at home since Suranga Lakmal’s 4 for 29 in 2019.
The first of those wickets wasn’t the best delivery Asitha has bowled, getting Yashasvi Jaiswal on the cut, the seventh time Jaiswal has perished to that shot against pace. Since his debut, nobody has been dismissed when cutting fast bowlers as often as him.
Karnataka team-mates KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal added 65 breezy runs in a partnership that featured attractive runs, a hug and a blown kiss from Rahul to Padikkal for convincing him to review an lbw given on the field.
Rahul didn’t last too long after that reversal, and Sri Lanka put together testing periods of play either side of lunch, getting the wickets of Rahul, Padikkal, Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel in relative quick succession.
Pant then turned the mundane into the exciting on a pitch that was not only turning but going up and down even with the old ball. Asitha and Lahiru Kumara kept trying to bounce batters while also slowing down the play. Pant found unique ways to score runs, dancing down and flat-batting short balls down the ground but also sensationally pulling balls behind square by getting inside the line. One of those pulls brought up his fifty and his 100th career six. Only two have hit more.
Those without a dog in the race might have expressed mild consternation that India kept batting once Pant got out with the lead at 352, especially because they were not able to score quick runs against testing bowling anyway, but it is difficult to go by the previous few days and risk declaring without absolutely batting the opposition out of the game.