India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test: Six Wickets Stand Between India and a Galle Victory

For three days, India were fighting Sri Lanka and the clock.

By the end of Day 4, they had finally forced one of them out of the contest. Sri Lanka will begin the final day in Galle at 84/4, still 288 runs away from a daunting target of 372. India need six wickets. And suddenly a Test that spent its opening two days losing precious hours to rain has been stripped down to its simplest equation. Six wickets. Three sessions. India have the runs. They have the bowlers. Most importantly, they finally appear to have the time.

Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva remains unbeaten on 31 alongside first-innings centurion Sonal Dinusha on 25, and that pair represents the immediate obstacle between India and a victory that could prove enormously valuable to their World Test Championship campaign. But 84/4 tells only half the story of Day 4.

The more revealing number might be 193 in 49 overs. India spent the morning doing precisely what this rain-hit Test demanded. They stopped protecting their position and started attacking the clock.

PANT DIDN'T BUILD AN INNINGS. HE BOUGHT INDIA TIME

India began their second innings with a lead of 178 but quickly lost Yashasvi Jaiswal for a three-ball duck.

KL Rahul made 35. Devdutt Padikkal followed his magnificent first-innings 167 with 44. Shubman Gill fell for eight. India could have retreated. Rishabh Pant went the other way. His 66 came from just 69 deliveries, with eight fours and two sixes. Reuters described India's approach as one of clear intent, with the visitors looking to score quickly rather than simply accumulate as they tried to leave themselves enough time to dismiss Sri Lanka again. That is what makes Pant's innings more important than its size. India didn't need another hundred. They needed acceleration. Pant supplied it. He attacked, absorbed a blow to the helmet from Lahiru Kumara, and then pulled the very next delivery for four. Eventually, attempting another of those outrageous falling-away pulls that have become part of his batting vocabulary, he edged behind for 66.

Along the way came a piece of history. Pant became the first Indian and only the fourth batter overall to hit 100 sixes in Test cricket, according to Reuters. But the milestone was almost incidental to what India actually needed from him. Pant wasn't merely adding runs to the lead. He was buying overs for his bowlers. India were eventually dismissed for 193 in 49 overs. Target: 372. Then the hunt began.

MANAV SUTHAR HAS WALKED INTO A TEST MATCH AND STRAIGHT INTO THE STORY

The most intriguing part of India's fourth-innings attack hasn't come from one of its established stars.

It has come from Manav Suthar. Mohammed Siraj started the damage by removing Nishan Madushka for six. Then Suthar struck. Pasindu Sooriyabandara, playing as a concussion substitute after Dinesh Chandimal suffered neck and shoulder trouble while fielding, was initially given not out first ball. Reuters reported that Suthar convinced Gill to review the decision. The review overturned it. Gone for a golden duck.

Suthar struck again to leave Sri Lanka wobbling, while Prasidh Krishna removed Kamindu Mendis as the top order cracked for the second time in the Test. For a young spinner playing his first Test, there are easier assignments than defending a target on the final evening in Galle. Suthar doesn't appear particularly interested in easy. By stumps he had two wickets. On Day 5, he could have the chance to help finish a Test match.

Sri Lanka should probably have been five down. Dhananjaya de Silva, then on seven, edged Ravindra Jadeja to slip. India celebrated. Then came the no-ball. Jadeja had overstepped, handing the Sri Lankan captain a potentially enormous reprieve. He survived to reach 31. Beside him stands Dinusha, the man who has already demonstrated his capacity to frustrate India. His first-innings century helped Sri Lanka recover from 99/5 and ensured India couldn't simply steamroll their way through the Test.

That makes the first hour on Day 5 crucial. If India break this partnership early, 288 might as well be 500. If Dinusha and de Silva survive the opening spell, the equation changes. Not necessarily towards a Sri Lankan victory. Towards something India have spent this entire Test trying to outrun: Time.

(With inputs from ANI)