SL vs IND: Dhruv Jurel's ton, late strikes leave India firmly in control of Colombo Test

Dhruv Jurel’s second Test century has put India in a commanding position on Day 2 of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo. He scored an unbeaten 115*, laced with nine fours and two sixes, while Rishabh Pant (63) also notched up a valuable half-century as India declared their first innings on 503/9.

To cap off a dominant day, the visitors also managed to scalp two wickets before the close of play, leaving Sri Lanka reeling at 8/2, trailing by 495 runs in the first innings. Earlier, India resumed their innings on 300/5 with Jurel (7*) and Saransh Jain (4*) at the crease.

Sri Lanka got some early success in the day as Asitha Fernando (4/106) bounced out Saransh Jain in just the second over of the day, making him edge to gully, and he got his fourth scalp of the innings. Following his departure, Pant came out to resume his innings on 3 after getting retired hurt on Day 1.

He wasted no time to get going, clobbering Lahiru Kumara on the roof of the stadium. At the other end, Jurel also managed to find the fence more often than not as the duo made the scoreboard move at a rapid pace. They brought up their respective half-centuries, taking India past 400.

Jurel and Pant got involved in a 112-run stand for the seventh wicket, bringing their team into a commanding position in the first session. In the second session, Sri Lanka once again struck early, getting the prized scalp of Rishabh Pant (63), who holed to deep mid-off against Keshara Nuwantha (2/154).

However, Dhruv Jurel continued to move along nicely in his innings, getting good support from Manav Suthar (18), who eventually perished against Prabath Jayasuriya. Jurel moved into the 90s before rain washed out most of the second session. In the final session, he finally brought up his three-figure mark with a quick single and smacked two sixes to get India close to 500.

Sri Lanka crumble under overcast conditions

Captain Shubman Gill immediately declared the innings after crossing 500 as Sri Lanka walked out to bat under overcast conditions with the light fading. Prasidh Krishna made the most of the favourable conditions as he found the outside edge of Lahiru Udara (1), which was pouched safely by Yashasvi Jaiswal in the slip, who completed a terrific diving catch.

Later, Manav Suthar trapped the night-watcher Prabath Jayasuriya (2) in front of the stumps to give Sri Lanka a second blow before the close of play. As a result, the hosts finished the day on 8/2 after three overs.