Jurel ton, early SL wickets rubber-stamp India's dominance

India took control of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo after a productive day, which saw them go to Stumps on Day 2 with a lead of 495 runs. Dhruv Jurel's second Test century set up India's declaration at 503/9 before the hosts lost an opener and a nightwatchman in fading light.

Earlier on the second day, it took Sri Lanka less than two overs to strike as Asitha Fernando used the bouncer to good effect to get rid of Saransh Jain. That wicket brought Rishabh Pant out to the middle again, as he was deemed fit to bat. This time, he put away a bouncer over the fine leg fence to send a statement, his 95-meter six landing crushing a solar panel in the process.

Pant continued to make merry as he next targeted Keshara Nuwantha for back-to-back boundaries and overtake Jurel. The two batters continued to motor along and brought up their respective half-centuries in the space of four deliveries that also dragged India's total past 400. Sri Lanka were put under the pump when Pant turned on the heat further by taking on Prabath Jayasuriya for a four and six off successive deliveries just before the Lunch break. The break in momentum helped the hosts big time as they struck first ball after Lunch with Pant finding the fielder in his attempt to go big again.

While Jurel took over scoring duties, Manav Suthar kept Sri Lanka at bay by playing the ideal foil at the other end. After hanging on for 50 deliveries, Suthar was sent back to the pavilion by Jayasuriya, who finally opened his wickets column after a hard toil. The players then had to take Tea early as a result of rain that prevented play for almost two hours.

Once play resumed, Jurel endured a nervous time in the nineties before finally reaching his ton. After going past three figures, Jurel broke free to smash a couple of sixes that helped India push their total beyond 500 that brought out the declaration. Just two balls into Sri Lanka's reply, rain returned again before clearing in time for play to resume at 5:35 PM local time much to the annoyance of the hosts. To add to their frustration, the home side ended up losing two wickets over the next 16 deliveries. Prasidh Krishna got one to straighten after pitching to take Lahiru Udara's outside edge that was pouched by a diving Yashasvi Jaiswal at third slip, before Suthar struck lbw to dismiss nightwatchman Jayasuriya.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 8/2 (Prasidh Krishna 1/1, Manav Suthar 1/6) trail India 503/9d (Devdutt Padikkal 117, Dhruv Jurel 115*; Asitha Fernando 4-106) by 495 runs