India set for clean sweep after yet another Lankan collapse

Indias Hardik Pandya back to camera celebrates with teammates the dismissal of Sri Lankas Angelo Mathews during the second days play of their third cricket test match in Pallekele Sri Lanka Sunday Aug 13 2017 PicAPPTIHardik Pandya smashed his maiden Test century before Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav routed the Sri Lankan middle order setting India up for a series whitewashon the second day of the third and final match herePandyas aggressive batting powered India to 487 all out after starting the day at 329 for six The memorable knock was also Pandyas first ever hundred in first class cricketPandyas knock which was embellished with seven powerful sixes punctured whatever hopes Sri Lanka had to make it a contest after ending the opening day on a highKuldeep who replaced the suspended Ravindra Jadeja in the side scalped four Lankan batsmen after Mohammed Shami sent back both the openers to help India bundle out the hosts for a paltry 135With a massive 352run lead in hand Virat Kohli had no hesitation in enforcing the followon and inflict more misery on a hapless Sri LankaThere was enough time for India to take another wicket with Upul Tharanga dragging one on to his stumps off paceman Umesh Yadav leaving Sri Lanka at 19 for one at end of the day in which 15 wickets fellDimuth Karunaratne 12 and Malinda Pushpakumara 0 were at the crease when the stumps were drawnThe wicket was not a bad one to bat on but listless Sri Lankan batsmen failed to apply themselvesDinesh Chandimal 48 and Niroshan Dickwella 29 put on 63 runs for the fifth wicket in the final session of the dayThey attacked the Indian bowling with clear mindset It helped Lanka cross 100 in the 21st over but their partnership was broken when Dickwella was stumped off Kuldeep 440It was the start of another collapse for the hosts as two overs later Dilruwan Perera 0 holed out in the deep off Kuldeep againThe big wicket came when Chandimal was caught at leg gully off R Ashwin 222 in the 32nd over the ball lobbing up and KL Rahul completing the easy catchFive balls later Kuldeep playing only his second Test bowled Malinda Pushpakumara 10 and then returned in the 37th over to dismiss Vishwa Fernando 0 in the same mannerHe missed his maiden Test fivewicket haul when Ashwin dismissed Lakshan Sandakan 10 an over later caught at leg gully Lanka lost their last six wickets for 34 runsAshwin and Mohammed Shami shared the new ball for India in the second innings and although the Lankan batsmen showed intent to fight Umesh 13 managed to get the breakthroughEarlier Pandya was dismissed for 108 runs 96 balls 8 fours and 7 sixes after adding 66 runs for the last wicket with Umesh 3 before lunchThe former was caught at deep cover off Lakshan Sandakan 5132 three deliveries after the break It was the Lankan chinamans maiden fivewicket haul in his sixth TestLanka though struggled from the very start in this short middle session Shami 215 and Umesh moved the new ball very well and used the bounce available to good effectTharanga 5 was the first to go caught behind off Shami in the third over albeit he wasted a DRS review despite getting a thick edgeShami also sent back Karunaratne 4 cheaply caught behind again in the 5th over Things took a dire turn for the hosts when Kusal Mendis 18 was runout after a mixup with skipper ChandimalPandya then struck a body blow with the ball as well trapping Angelo Mathews 0 lbw in the 10th over as Lanka were reduced to 384As the day began with India resuming at 329 for six Pandya and Wriddhiman Saha 16 looked to bat for time in a bid to resurrect Indias floundering first inningsBut they could only add 10 more runs to their overnight partnership with Saha caught at gully off Vishwa Fernando 287 in the ninth ball of the morningKuldeep 26 batted resolutely though and put on 62 runs with Pandya for the eighth wicket In doing so they took India past 400 in the 110th over something that seemed unlikely at stumps on day oneThe former then fell immediately afterwards caught behind off Sandakan India became the first team to score 400plus in three successive Tests of a series on Lankan soilPandya then went into overdrive and put on 20 runs with Shami 8 whilst reaching his halfcentury off 61 balls He then put Malinda Pushpakumara 382 to the sword in the 116th over taking 26 runs off him with 3 sixes and 2 foursIt was the most runs scored by an Indian batsman in an over in Test cricket beating the previous jointrecord of 24 runs held by Sandip Patil and Kapil DevThis attack helped put an aggressive 10th wicket stand for India as Umesh and Pandya put on 50 runs off only 26 balls in the extended morning sessionPandya then reached his maiden Test hundred off 86 balls his second halfcentury coming off only 25 balls It was also the second fastest Test hundred overseas by an Indian batsman second to Virender Sehwagiquests 78ball effort against West Indies at Gros Islet in 2006