Sri Lanka 192 for three at lunch against India

Angelo Mathews and captain Dinesh Chandimal played patient innings as Sri Lanka snuffed out Indian hopes of an early breakthrough on the third day of the third Test match at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium here on Monday.

With the pitch barely showing signs of wear and tear, Mathews (90*) and Chandimal( 52*) comfortably stretched their fourth-wicket overnight partnership of 56 to 117 and Sri Lanka went to lunch at 192/3, trailing India’s first innings total by 344 runs.

It was a frustrating opening session for the hosts who struggled to separate the two Sri Lankan batsmen. The smog, which created havoc on Sunday, again caused a brief three-minute disruption on the hazy but sunny



morning. But that was all about smog.Mathews, who was dropped at slips on Sunday evening, and Chandimal batted unhurried and at drinks Indians were found engaged in an intense discussion.

Ravichandran Ashwin, brought in 25 minutes before lunch, had a slip and short leg in place for him. But visitors were not to be carried away by anything. Chandimal soon raised his half-century off Mohammed Shami with a boundary to backward point. It was off a thick outside edge but brought up Sri Lankan captain’s third half-century in a row, and his 16th overall in Tests.

By the time the first session of the day ended, Sri Lanka had raised 61 runs and hopes of a fightback.