Sri Lankan batters fail as India stamp authority

Yet again Sri Lanka shown a poor performance with the bat, this time on the first day of the 2nd Test in Nagpur. After being 3/122 saw a collapse that lead to Sri Lanka being dismissed for 205 all out. Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal showed some inspiring fightback against a highly hostile bowling attack from India with the likes of Ravichandran Aswhin, Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. However, yet again in the series, once a Sri Lankan batsman has got a valuable start, he has failed to convert those starts to big scores. As mentioned in a previous blog, India is a team where big first innings scores are the only way of putting pressure on a team that is in such good form. These collapses are happening way to often and it is about time that some of the senior players stand up. In particular, Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne, who need to add a bit of sanity to this batting lineup.

However, not all was doom and gloom for the Sri Lankans in the second innings, as the bowlers took effect of the 8 overs before stumps to find an early wicket in Lokesh Rahul. India at stumps on the first day sit uneasily on 1/11. Emphasising that if Sri Lankan bowlers stick to their plans and attack early, this may produce one or two opportunities for some wickets. Early wickets will be crucial for Sri Lanka as they would want Virat Kohli to be out in the middle as early as possible.

Lets hope for Sri Lanka's sake that they catch well and continue their reasonable form with the ball and attempt to dismiss India for less than 300 to give them some form of a chance of putting a win on the board.