Rishabh Pants Half-Century Not Enough as India Falls to 193 in Second Innings

Galle, August 18: The Indian cricket team struggled on the fourth day of the Test match against Sri Lanka at Galle International Stadium. Despite Rishabh Pant’s half-century, India was bowled out for just 193 runs in their second innings. Sri Lanka now needs 372 runs to win the match.

India’s second innings got off to a rocky start. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed without scoring. KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal managed to put together a partnership of 65 runs for the second wicket. Rahul was out for 35 runs, followed by Shubman Gill, who scored only 8 runs. Padikkal contributed 44 runs before being dismissed.

After Padikkal’s wicket, the Indian batting order collapsed rapidly, with the team losing eight wickets for single-digit scores. Amidst the falling wickets, wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant stood out, scoring a half-century. He made 66 runs off 69 balls, hitting 2 sixes and 8 fours. Notably, Pant’s second six marked his 100th six in Test cricket, making him the first Indian batsman to achieve this milestone.

For Sri Lanka, Asitha Fernando took 4 wickets, Prabath Jayasuriya claimed 3, while Lahiru Kumara and Keshav took 2 and 1 wickets, respectively.

In their first innings, India scored 462 runs, thanks to Devdutt Padikkal’s 167 and KL Rahul’s 82. Sri Lanka managed only 284 runs in their first innings.

With a lead of 178 runs from the first innings, India set Sri Lanka a target of 372 runs to chase. Achieving this target in the fourth innings will not be easy. With one session left on the fourth day and the entire fifth day remaining, the pitch is favorable for spinners. It remains to be seen whether India’s spinners can dominate or if Sri Lanka’s batsmen will rise to the challenge.