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India will seek to clinch their first series win on Sri Lankan soil in 22 years as they go into the third and final cricket Test against the hosts tomorrow in what promises to be a thrilling duel between the two young teams. Virat Kohli managed to register his first Test victory as captain after India humbled the hosts by 278 runs in the series-levelling win at the P Sara Oval and the new leader stands at the cusp of claiming his maiden rubber as well. Mohammad Azharuddin had last led an Indian team to a Test series win on Lankan turf, back in 1993, with a 1-0 margin. [caption id=“attachment_2410774” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Kohli’s five-bowler strategy has paid rich dividends, albeit with different results. AFP[/caption] Kohli’s five-bowler strategy has paid rich dividends, albeit with different results. From three spinners in Galle and dropping Harbhajan Singh for Stuart Binny in Colombo, they have managed to pick all 40 Lankan wickets on offer. It has been a horses-for-courses policy thus far, and it has worked well. Riding on Ravichandran Ashwin’s terrific form with the ball (17 wickets in 4 innings), the visitors have managed to dominate almost eight out of the nine days of cricket played so far in the two matches. Ashwin, who bagged a five-wicket haul to help India skittle out Lanka for 134 to win the previous game, has combined well with Amit Mishra, who has picked 12 wickets in the series so far to spin Lankan woes. The team management recognised that Ashwin and Mishra were proving quite a handful for the Lankan batsmen, and were ably supported by Ishant Sharma (and Umesh Yadav in the second Test) in the pace department. As such they only needed reinforcements in the guise of a fifth bowler, and Binny was summoned for the second game. It is easy to assume that the Indian attack will bear the same look at the SSC as it did at the Oval. There has been some re-arrangement of the batting line-up too. Through some chance, Ajinkya Rahane has moved to number three and Rohit Sharma, after a failed experiment in three Tests, is now slotted at number five. With the five-bowler theory in effect, there is no place for Cheteshwar Pujara in this line-up, not as a specialist middle-order batsman anyway. Instead, due to injuries sustained by Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan, Pujara is now slated to open the innings with Lokesh Rahul at the SSC. Unless some cruel fate transpires to rob him of this chance as well, this Test will perhaps define the Saurashtra batsman’s standing in this squad. Having Pujara as a makeshift opener also allows the 32-year-old Naman Ojha to finally make his Test debut, while Karun Nair is likely to warm the bench. On paper atleast, this combination looks like India’s best bet to win a Test series away from home. Sri Lanka on the other hand seem to be in disarray and it is not entirely due to Kumar Sangakkara’s retirement after two matches in this series. In a way, it did put a hold on the hosts’ plans for the series since they will now be fielding another batsman. But then again, they have already been mixing up their batting order in the past two Tests, so it shouldn’t matter this time around either. Upul Tharanga is expected to replace the outgoing left-hander, and is likely to bat at No.3. Skipper Angelo Mathews has taken up the number four slot, leaving Lahiru Thirimanne at number five. The big worry here is that Tharanga is also a left-hander and their record against Ashwin in this series has been worrisome for Lanka. Twelve of his 17 victims have been left-handers, with Sangakkara accounting for four dismissals and Thirimanne another three. And then there is Mishra’s leg-spin to contend with; 7 of his 12 wickets have come against lower-order batsmen. All in all it puts a lot of onus on the top-five batsmen to get runs, and that has not been an easy task thus far. Perhaps it also puts the SSC grounds men in a quandary. In Galle, the pitch was tailor-made for Rangana Herath and he came good on day four. The P Sara Oval pitch was a little more conservative, and while their batsmen didn’t give a sniff to Herath this time, the Indian bowlers were persistent in their approach. As such, it remains to be seen if the SSC wicket will resemble either of the pitches from the first two Tests, or will be flatter in nature, pointing towards a draw. Either way, India’s dominance in this series will have a bearing on it. For, Lanka will not want to lose a second home series in succession, after losing 1-2 to Pakistan. PTI
Sri Lanka vs India 3rd Test day 1 as it happened: Rains play spoilsport after Sri Lanka reduce India to 50/2
Mohammad Azharuddin had last led an Indian team to a Test series win on Lankan turf, back in 1993, with a 1-0 margin.
 "Sri Lanka vs India 3rd Test day 1 as it happened: Rains play spoilsport after Sri Lanka reduce India to 50/2")
Everyone’s frustrated!
Just call it off man... #SLvIND
— Nikhil Mane 🏏🇦🇺 (@nikhiltait) August 28, 2015
"Announced retirement after the second Test once I read the weather report for the third" - Sangakkara
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) August 28, 2015
OH DEAR!!!!
It is raining again in Colombo. The wait continues. #SLvsIND
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 28, 2015
Covers are coming on. Cant spot rain at the moment. Perhaps.. play has been called off. Waiting for official confirmation though. #SLvInd
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) August 28, 2015
Scorer update: Official inspection at 3.30pm. That's 29 minutes. #SLvInd
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) August 28, 2015
Super Sopper being turned on and kicked into gear. They have two here at the SSC. Lets see what they can do! #SLvInd
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) August 28, 2015
Umpires walking out to check the outfield. Square still covered. Only the water on covers were removed. #CricbuzzCup pic.twitter.com/ahnGWlfmWV
— Ajith Ramamurthy (@Ajith_tweets) August 28, 2015
Covers coming off in the outfield now. The pitch remains covered though. The groundstaff are very impressive here at the #SSC. #SLvIND
— Arya Yuyutsu (@aryayuyutsu) August 28, 2015
Covers finally coming off at #SSC. #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/mMyf6fCV8F
— Arya Yuyutsu (@aryayuyutsu) August 28, 2015
Ever so slight drizzle. Preventing the groundsmen from carrying out the mopping up job. #CricbuzzCup #SLvIND
— Ajith Ramamurthy (@Ajith_tweets) August 28, 2015
The. Rain. Has. Stopped. #SLvInd
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) August 28, 2015
The. Rain. Has. Stopped. #SLvInd
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) August 28, 2015
Post-lunch session has begun. And rain is still playing....
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) August 28, 2015
Light drizzle at the moment. Post-tea is best bet for play. #SLvInd
So lunch will be from 11.45 to 12.25
— Roshan Abeysinghe (@RoshanCricket) August 28, 2015
Rain has reduced. But the damage is done. #CricbuzzCup #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/uR7D5tqRj0
— Ajith Ramamurthy (@Ajith_tweets) August 28, 2015
Groundsmen struggling to get the whole field covered. Dont expect play atleast until after lunch. No chance! #SLvInd pic.twitter.com/Wg2sZo3fZc
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) August 28, 2015
Quite a heavy shower... Buildings in the background completely invisible now. Long interruption this! #SLvInd pic.twitter.com/encxAFwLjs
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) August 28, 2015
After 15 overs, India 50/2 (Pujara 19, Kohli 14)
The 50 comes up for India. Not much turn for Herath in that over but he mixed it up well. He however drifts one down the leg side and Kohli trickles it to fine leg for a boundary. Pujara used his feet off the last ball and pushed it to mid off, he set off but Kohli sent him back in time.
After 14 overs, India 44/2 (Pujara 18, Kohli 9)
Great over from Prasad. Kohli suffers a lapse of concentration in the over. Pujara takes a single off the second ball. The third ball is a good length in corridor of uncertainty, Kohli leaves it. Prasad bowls an outswinger the next ball, Kohli looks to drive away from his body but gets an outside edge which drops short of the first slip fielder – second time it has dropped short of the slips. Prasad then beats Kohli with a lovely outswinger off the last ball. Just one run off the over.
After 13 overs, India 43/2 (Pujara 17, Kohli 9)
Another good probing over from Mathews. He is building good pressure. He beats Pujara with a beautiful outswinger off the first ball. Pujara pushes at the the next one and gets a thick outside edge wide of gully for a couple. After a couple of defenses, Pujara guides one to gully, the fielder dives and makes half a stop. They get a single. 3 runs off the over.
Rain expected shortly. Cos groundsmen taking position.... not cos forecast says so. #SLvInd
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) August 28, 2015
After 12 overs, India 40/2 (Pujara 14, Kohli 9)
A good over from Pradeep, mixed his lengths really well. Concentrated on bowling full and on good lengths. Pujara with just the single off the over. A good first over for Sri Lanka, they scalped the wickets of Rahul and Rahane. They could have had Kohli too but Kusal dropped a regulation catch.
Suspect Che Pujara's been told to rotate strike early on, almost too keen to get off strike. Easy on the quick single though.#indvsl
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) August 28, 2015
After 11 overs, India 39/2 (Pujara 13, Kohli 9)
A good tight over from Mathews. He didn’t get much movement off the air or surface but he bowled stump to stump on good length areas. A maiden over.
After 10 overs, India 39/2 (Pujara 13, Kohli 9)
Pradeep missing his lengths in that over. He was too full and got punished. Kohli rams the first ball to mid off where Mathews misfields to give away a single. Pujara then thumps an overpitched delivery through mid off for a boundary. Pujara is solid in his defense for the rest of the over. Pradeep, however, is bowling iwth good aggression. 6 runs off the over.
After 9 overs, India 33/2 (Pujara 9, Kohli 8)
A very good probing over from Mathews. He concentrated on the corridor of uncertainty line. Pujara nearly dragged one on off the first ball but then he was more watchful. A maiden over.
You just dropped the Cricbuzz Cup mait
— Nitin Sundar🎙️✒️🎦 (@knittins) August 28, 2015
After 8 overs, India 33/2 (Pujara 9, Kohli 8)
It’s all happening at the SSC! Kohli at first flicks one through mid-wicket for a boundary. He then gets a BIG LET-OFF as he looks to drive but gets an inside edge but Kusal puts down a regulation chance. To add insult to injury, the ball hits the helmet and India get five penalty runs. Pradeep then beats Kohli with an absolute ripper. The ball snakes off the surface and Kusal has to leap to pouch it over his head.
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