Pasindu Sooriyabandara hits maiden Test fifty on Day 3 in Colombo

Sri Lanka’s Pasindu Sooriyabandara struck his maiden Test half-century on Day 3 of the second Test against India at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo.

Sooriyabandara reached fifty with a single off Ravindra Jadeja, going on to remain unbeaten on 65 off 93 balls with 9 fours at lunch.

It is only his second Test appearance. He made his debut as a concussion substitute for Dinesh Chandimal during the first Test in Galle on August 18, after Chandimal was ruled out with a neck and shoulder injury sustained while fielding.

That debut made Sooriyabandara only the fifth player in Test cricket history to win his maiden cap as a substitute, following Brian Mudzinganyama, Khaya Zondo, Matt Parkinson and Bahir Shah.

India had earlier declared their first innings at 503 for 9, built around a maiden Test century in Sri Lanka from Dhruv Jurel, before reducing the hosts to 130 for 4 at lunch through two breakthroughs from Prasidh Krishna.

Sooriyabandara’s composed knock has helped steady Sri Lanka’s innings after the early loss of wickets, with the match evenly poised heading into the afternoon session.

His first-class record coming into the series stood at 4,893 runs from 68 matches at an average of 54.36, including 14 centuries and 23 half-centuries, reflecting a consistent domestic batting record before his international call-up.

The concussion substitute rule allows a like-for-like replacement to be brought into a Test match when a player is ruled out due to a head or neck injury, subject to approval from the match referee.

India go into this Test holding a 1-0 series lead after their win in the series opener at Galle, meaning a strong showing from Sri Lanka’s middle order is important to keep the contest alive.

His composed batting on Day 3 has been seen as a promising sign for Sri Lanka’s middle order depth, coming as it did under pressure after early wickets fell.

Photo by PaddyBriggs, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain