India vs Sri Lanka, 3rd Test, Day 3 – As it happened...
Welcome to our live coverage of Day 3 of third Test between India and Sri Lanka at Pallekele.
Cheteshwar Pujara: "We've played for IndianOil too, scored many runs together (Ajinkya Rahane). When it comes to preparation, once we've ticked all the boxes, we trust our abilities. I would like to play more county matches, it did help me. When you play county cricket, you get challenging wickets."
Ajinkya Rahane: "Played a wrong shot, played on instinct (first-innings dismissal). When a guy isn't doing well, he (batting coach Sanjay Bangar) takes you out for dinner and gives you positive vibes."
OVER 74.3 | SCORE 181/10 | Fernando 3
Ravichandran Ashwin picks up his 4th wicket of the innings to bundle Sri Lankan innings. That also seals a historic clean sweep for Virat Kohli and Co as they have never won three back-to-back matches o an overseas tour before.
OVER 70 | SCORE 168/9 | Fernando 1, Kumara 0
Just one wicket to go! Seamers, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami return to remove Sandakan and Dickwella, respectively. Hosts trail by 184 runs as series clean sweep nears.
OVER 60 | SCORE 139/7 | Dickwella 21, Sandakan 0
Ashwin strikes again to remove Dilruwan. Sri Lanka 7 down now. Just three more to go for India.
OVER 57 | SCORE 129/6 | Dickwella 16, Dilruwan 3
Four more wickets to go before Virat Kohli and Co. complete a clean sweep over Sri Lanka for the first time. Seventh wicket alsmost became a relaity in 56th over after Ashwin seemed to have got Perera LBW, but a DRS saved him.
OVER 51 | SCORE 104/5 | Chandimal 29, Dickwella 0
Kuldeep Yadav brings the breakthrough. Disnesh Chandimal caught by Cheteshwar Pujara at short leg. India finally back on track to seal the series today itself.
OVER 45 | SCORE 88/4 | Chandimal 29, Mathews 21
That's almost a 50-run partnership for the Lankans, who are frustrating Virat Kohli and Co. with their disciplined approach. Can they survive an entire day today?
OVER 42 | SCORE 82/4 | Chandimal 26, Mathews 17
LUNCH! While it looked like Sri Lanka would have lost more than half of their team by the time session breaks for lunch, however, Chandimal and Mathews did bat well to not let the Indian bowlers break their parntership.
OVER 35 | SCORE 73/4 | Chandimal 19, Mathews 15
Virat Kohli introduces Hardik Pandya into the attack as Chandimal, Mathews take caution first approach in attempt to last as long as possible against Indian bolwers.
OVER 30 | SCORE 61/4 | Chandimal 11, Mathews 11
Chandimal, Mathews look to have got hold of the slide a little. But it will take a lot more effort from the captain and his predecessor to prevent the Lankans from seeing an end to the match today.
OVER 23 | SCORE 39/4 | Chandimal 0, Mathews 0
Sri Lanka 4 down! Mohammed Shami picks two, while Ravichandran Ashwin claims one as Sri Lanka witness another frefall of wickets.
OVER 15 | SCORE 26/1 | Pushpakumara 0, Karunaratne 16
Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami begin India's proceedings with the ball on Day 3. Sri Lanka still trail by 327 runs as Indian bowlers start to get into their groove.
Bowling coach Bharat Arun giving important advice to Hardik Pandya ahead of the start of Day 3.
Words of wisdom for @hardikpandya7 from bowling coach Bharat Arun #TeamIndia #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/V5tD2ubIde
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 14, 2017
Head coach Ravi Shastri in talks with his team. Probably asking them to finish off the job today itself?
Team talk! Coach @RaviShastriOfc at it #TeamIndia #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/mjJ0YJfQUf
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 14, 2017
