Kumar Sangakkara was dismissed for 18 in his last international innings to leave Sri Lanka in trouble in the second Test against India in Colombo yesterday.
The hosts, given a tough victory target of 413, slumped to 33-2 after Sangakkara’s dismissal before closing the fourth day’s play at 72-2 at the P. Sara Oval.
Opener Dimuth Karunaratne was on 25 and skipper Angelo Mathews was on 23. Sri Lanka begin the final day’s play today needing 341 more to win with eight wickets in hand.
Photo: Reuters
India, looking to level the three-match series after losing the first Test in Galle, declared their second innings at 325-8 in the post-tea session after Ajinkya Rahane top-scored with 126.
It left the hosts facing a little less than four sessions to achieve the huge target or bat out for a draw on a slow, wearing pitch that should favor India’s spinners.
The highest successful fourth-innings run chase at the venue is 352-9 by the hosts against South Africa in 2006.
Photo: AFP
Sangakkara, the fifth-highest run-getter in Test history, did not have to wait long to bat after Sri Lanka lost opener Kaushal Silva in the third over, tapping a full toss from Ravichandran Ashwin to the short mid-wicket fielder.
A full house of about 7,000 home fans applauded warmly as Sangakkara was welcomed to the crease by two honor guards — one formed by young children with raised bats near the boundary and another by Indian fielders.
Sangakkara hit three boundaries, but fell to Ashwin for the fourth time in as many innings in the series when he edged a catch to Murali Vijay off the 18th ball he faced.
Sangakkara finished with 12,400 runs from 134 Tests at an average of 57.40. He scored 38 centuries, including a best of 319 against Bangladesh in Chittagong last year.
The Sri Lankan great follows Sachin Tendulkar of India, Ricky Ponting of Australia, Jacques Kallis of South Africa and Rahul Dravid of India in the all-time list of leading Test scorers.
Rahane anchored the Indian innings before being dismissed shortly before tea for 126, his fourth Test century that was studded with 10 boundaries.
The Mumbai batsman and Vijay (82) added 140 for the second wicket to boost the total after Lokesh Rahul had fallen off the fifth ball of the innings on Saturday evening.
Vijay hit four boundaries and two sixes, but missed his seventh Test century when he attempted to sweep off-spinner Tharindu Kaushal and was adjudged LBW soon after the morning drinks break.
Kaushal then trapped captain Virat Kohli LBW for 10, but Rohit Sharma (34) helped Rahane add 85 for the fourth wicket.
Kaushal removed Sharma and Rahane in successive overs as India slipped from 256-3 to 262-5.
Sharma pulled a short ball to Jehan Mubarak on the mid-wicket fence and Rahane’s 243-ball vigil ended when he edged a catch to wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal.
Wriddhiman Saha retired hurt with a hamstring niggle after making five, but returned to bat at the fall of the seventh wicket and remained unbeaten on 13. He did not take the field, leaving Rahul to keep wicket.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their