The ninety minutes! Moving day comes early in gloomy Galle

TimesofIndia.com in Galle: The build-up to the second day of the Test focused on how many runs India needed before making Sri Lanka bat. Bat once and bat big had been the undertone of this fixture, and India's solid start on the opening day pointed in that direction. However, just like the weather, the mood changed at a frantic pace when Sri Lanka took the second new ball to dent India's hopes of batting the hosts out of the contest. Three overnight batters, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul (who retired hurt on Day 1) and centurion Devdutt Padikkal, were dismissed in the first ninety minutes of play after the weather kept both camps confined to the dressing room for over five hours. From 'how much is too much' to 'how long will they survive', the nature of the conversations changed after a period in which the Sri Lanka bowlers sustained pressure. Debutant Keshara Nuwantha was the wrecker-in-chief, and his adjustment of length proved ideal for the Day 2 surface, which offered sharp turn and encouraging bounce. Day 3 is widely considered the moving day in a multi-day fixture, but it came earlier than usual as Pant couldn't convert his start, Rahul was undone by sharp turn and an even better catch, and Jadeja was trapped in front by a delivery that went on with the arm from the perfect length. Amid all the first-session chaos, the most assured batter from the visitors' camp held fort for a while, continuing from where he had left off, and looked set for a double hundred before falling for 167. Left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya took the prized wicket of Padikkal and later dismissed another set batter, Dhruv Jurel, who scored a breezy 51. Before being dismissed, Jurel looked very assured and added valuable runs with Manav Suthar, pushing India's total to a number that keeps them in a dominant position. The right-hander remained busy, and there was a sense of urgency in his stand with Suthar as they negotiated the Sri Lanka attack during the closing hour of play. They got together when Jadeja was dismissed in the 99th over, with the scoreboard reading 377/6, and added 55 runs for the seventh wicket. Gill, in the pre-match press conference, had stressed the contributions from the lower order, and the partnership between Jurel and Suthar was the kind of effort he was looking for to keep the momentum on their side. Galle was gloomy, the skies were angry, and the heavy downpour in the early hours meant the scheduled early start to make up for lost overs wasn't possible. To make matters worse, the constant hide-and-seek between clouds, sun and rain continued for over five hours, and even the groundstaff's best efforts were not enough as the rain refused to relent. They kept removing the covers after seeing clear skies, but all the hard work was undone as the strong crosswinds kept bringing the dark clouds over the stadium. The moment clear skies ahead offered hope, the darkness in the rearview forced the over-100-member team to keep panning and craning their necks in different directions. When the sun finally came out in all its glory, the synchronised effort took over, and within no time, the field was restored for Test cricket with the help of the two Super Soppers. The forecast for the next three days means interruptions of varying durations will continue, but India will hope they have scored enough runs to maintain momentum and give their bowlers a spring in their stride. The rain-interrupted day moved at a rapid pace, and with the pitch beginning to reveal the Galle flavour, we are in for a mouth-watering remaining three days, weather permitting! Brief Scores India 1st innings: 460 for 9 after 116 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 167, KL Rahul 82, Dhruv Jurel 51; Prabath Jayasuriya 4/109, Keshara Nuwantha 3/175)