IND vs SL Man of the Match 2nd Test: The Indian batter won his second Man of the Match award in Test cricket today.
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During the third day of the second Test of the ongoing Sri Lanka’s tour of India in Bengaluru, India beat Sri Lanka by 238 runs to register a 2-0 series victory.
Resuming from their overnight score of 28/1 in a 447-run chase, Sri Lanka couldn’t build on an advantage provided by a 97-run second-wicket partnership between captain Dimuth Karunaratne (107) and batter Kusal Mendis (54).
As a result, it was in the evening session that they were bundled out for 208 in 59.3 overs. In what is his 14th Test century, Karunaratne put on display an exemplary batting performance against an in-form Indian bowling attack on a pitch where most of the batters struggled.
Sole centurion of the match, it was Karunaratne’s sixth Test century as captain, fourth century away home, second in the fourth innings and against India but first in India.
India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin, who surpassed former South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn to become the eighth-highest Test wicket-taker, was the pick of the bowlers on Monday. While Ashwin picked bowling figures of 19.3-3-55-4, pacer Jasprit Bumrah also played a crucial role with bowling figures of 9-4-23-3.
IND vs SL Man of the Match 2nd Test
Bumrah, who had picked his eighth Test five-wicket haul in the first innings, was a close contender of the Man of the Match award but lost the same to batter Shreyas Iyer.
Playing only his fourth Test, Iyer has won his second Man of the Match award for scoring 92 (98) and 67 (87) under daunting batting conditions. Iyer’s ploy of taking on the spinners authoritatively in both the innings spoke highly of his skills on turning tracks.
“That [attacking the spinners] wasn’t my normal approach but I saw the batters struggling, so I knew I had to be attacking and put the pressure back on the bowlers. I was batting on 55 when the bowlers came in, and then I added around 40 more runs. I could have got out earlier as well, so didn’t worry about the hundred,” Iyer told Star Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony.
