Sports News | Sonal Dinusha's Unbeaten Fifty Keeps Sri Lanka Hopes Alive to Avoid Follow-on at Tea (Day 3)

Colombo [Sri Lanka], August 25 (ANI): Sri Lanka are looking to avoid the follow-on as Sonal Dinusha and Keshara Nuwantha have added unbeaten 43 runs for the eighth wicket to keep the hosts alive in the second Test match in Colombo.

At the Tea break on Day 3, Sri Lanka are 216/7 after 65 overs and still trailing by 287 runs. They still need to score 87 more runs to avoid the follow-on.

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In the second session, skipper Dhananjaya de Silva and Pasindu Sooriyabandara started off fresh, but Manav Suthar dismissed the Lankan captain in the 35th over.

Sooriyabandara added 80 runs from his side before Ravindra Jadeja bowled him in the 45th over.

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Niroshan Dickwella followed him in the very next over when Mohammed Siraj got him caught out by Dhruv Jurel for a duck.

Sonal Dinusha batted with clarity in his shot selection and completed his half-century just before the tea break. Nuwantha also contributed well with an unbeaten 13 runs.

Now, India will try to pick three quick wickets in the third session and enforce a follow-on on the hosts before they make 87 more runs.

Earlier, Sri Lanka showed resistance in the opening session of Day 3 of the second Test against India, reaching 130/4 at lunch after adding 122 runs in the morning session at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Tuesday.

Resuming on 8/2, the hosts lost debutant Kamil Mishara for 19, with Prasidh Krishna claiming his second wicket of the innings after inducing an edge to Dhruv Jurel. The dismissal reduced Sri Lanka to 35/3.

Sri Lanka had made a positive start to the day, with Kamil Mishara finding a few boundaries against Krishna. However, the Indian pacer had the last laugh, using his extra bounce to dismiss the debutant for 19 and give India a crucial breakthrough.

Pasindu Sooriyabandara and Kamindu Mendis then countered India's attack with positive strokeplay, keeping the scoreboard moving and forcing captain Shubman Gill to rotate his bowlers. (ANI)

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