India posted 303/9 in their second innings to set a mammoth target of 447 for Sri Lanka. Middle-order batters Rishabh Pant (50) and Shreyas Iyer (67) hit fine half-centuries and helped their side to reach a good total. India restricted the visitors to 28/1 at stumps as Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Lahiru Thirimanne for a duck in the very first over.

Earlier, Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin picked up two wickets each to bowl the Lankans for 109. Bumrah scalped his maiden five-wicket haul in Tests on home soil. With a 143-run lead, Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma gave India a confident start in their second innings. Both added 42-run before Agarwal fell to Lasith Embuldeniya on 22.

Rohit (46) and Hanuma Vihari batted well to stitch a partnership of 56-run and extended India’s lead to 203 runs. However, the Indian captain failed to convert his good start. He lost his wicket after trying to go after Dhananjaya de Silva. Very soon, Praveen Jayawickrama bowled out Vihari for 35.

Pant came in and straight away dominated the Lankan bowlers with his fireworks. But at the other end Virat Kohli (13) was trapped lbw by a ball that kept low. Pant went on to smash a half-century off just 28 balls and broke Kapil Dev’s record (30 balls) for the fastest fifty in tests.

Iyer batted brilliantly with good footwork and stroke play. But the in-form batter was trapped lbw by Embuldeniya. Ravindra Jadeja contributed 22-run while Mohammed Shami remained unbeaten on 16. Indian bowlers will look to take wickets and win the series on Day 3.