Mendis, Karunaratne lead Lankan fightback

Colombo: The resilient Sri Lankan pair of Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis displayed their best batting performance while following on to keep India at bay after a first innings debacle, guiding the hosts to 209 for 2 on the third day of the second Test.

After being bowled out for a paltry 183 in the first innings losing as many as eight wickets in a single session, No 3 Mendis (110 off 135 balls) and opener Karunaratne (92 batting, 200 balls) added 191 as the visitors could get only two wickets in the next two sessions.

While Sri Lanka still need 230 runs to avoid an innings defeat with two days left, the pitch losing a bit of bite and the effort by the top-order, should help the host make a match out of it.

Spin twins Ravichandran Ashwin (0/79 in 24 overs) and Ravindra Jadeja (0/76 in 16 overs) looked a pale shadow of themselves, which saw them account for bulk of the Sri Lankan wickets in the first innings.

India's all-rounder Hardik Pandya's (1/12 in 5 overs) came in handy as he induced an inside edge of Mendis with Wriddhiman Saha taking a smart catch down leg-side.

With the pitch losing a bit of pace, the two Indian spinners couldn't make much of an impact after Ashwin's 26th five-wicket haul in the first innings and Jadeja's milestone 150th wicket.

Credit to the Lankan pair, who had a plan against the spinners, especially Mendis, who used the sweep shot to good effect. They were ready to use their feet, coming to the pitch of the deliveries, smothering the spin. While Mendis attacked, it suited Karunaratne's game-plan very well as he held anchor at one end. Sri Lanka didn't look to defend as they scored at a healthy rate of nearly 3.5 runs per over.