Sri Lanka got to the end of the fourth day at Galle without the match being over, which was the only realistic aim left. They are 84 for 4 from 34 overs and, in the scorecard’s own accounting, require 288 runs to win the first Test against India with 6 wickets remaining. A whole day to bat, and six wickets to complete the task.
The debut that lasted one ball
The strangest passage belonged to Pasindu Sooriyabandara, who is only in this match because Dinesh Chandimal was ruled out after a concussion assessment. Promoted to number three, he was lbw to Suthar for 0 from 1 ball.
His day was full of action. He came to the field as a substitute fielder, and took a full-length diving catch. He was then given a Test cap because of an injury to Chanidmal and faced just 1 delivery. Sri Lanka had slipped from 13-1 to 14-2 inside four deliveries.
Then two men dug in
It got worse before it settled. Kamindu Mendis went at 21-3 and Udara, who had spent 58 balls making 16, at 47-4.
Since then Sri Lanka added important runs to the run chase. The captain Dhananjaya de Silva is 31 not out from 73 balls, and with him is Sonal Dinusha, the man who made a hundred in the first innings, on 25 from 36 with 4 fours. They saw out the rest of the evening.
India used six bowlers and barely needed them
Manav Suthar has 2 for 30 from 11 overs, Prasidh Krishna 1 for 13 from 8 with 2 maidens, and Mohammed Siraj 1 for 11. Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and even Devdutt Padikkal also bowled but without any success.
That is the shape of it going into the final day. An Indian attack that has not had to strain, and a Sri Lanka pair who have to bat all of Wednesday to make the draw or the win a story.