Cricket Highlights, 14 Mar: IND vs SL (2nd Test – Day 3), PAK vs AUS (2nd Test – Day 3)

The 3rd day of the 2nd Test between India and Sri Lanka, and the 3rd day of the 2nd Test between Pakistan and Australia rolled on the field yesterday. Continue reading the article to know the interesting happenings of the day’s games.

IND vs SL (2nd Test – Day 3)

Hosts India has completed a whitewash against the visiting Sri Lanka in the two-match Test series. Batting on a mountainous target of 447 runs, the visitors were restricted to 208 runs. India got a huge victory of 238 runs as a result of that.

India needed 9 wickets to win the match and Sri Lanka needed 419 runs to get their first triumph in the tour. In pursuit of this goal, Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne fought alone. On the second wicket, he made a pair of 97 runs with Kusal Mendis. The pair broke up when Mendis fell victim to Ravichandran Ashwin after scoring 54 runs.

After that, Karunaratne’s single fight started. At one time 180 runs were on the board of the Lankans losing 5 wickets. From there, the visitors lost the remaining 5 wickets to make only 28 runs and got all out scoring 208 runs. Sri Lanka could add just four more runs after Karunaratne’s departure to the pavilion as seventh batsmen with 107 off 174 balls hitting 15 boundaries. As a result, the visitors were all out in 59.3 overs.

Ravichandran Ashwin was the most successful Indian bowler of the day. The offspinner took 4 wickets for 55 runs. Jasprit Bumrah took 3 wickets for 23 runs.

Shreyas Iyer became the Player of the Match after playing two brilliant innings of 92 and 67 runs respectively. Besides, Rishabh Pant got the Player of the Series award for scoring a maximum of 185 runs in the series.

Scoreboard

India (1st Innings) – 252/10 (59.1)

Sri Lanka (1st Innings) – 109/10 (35.5)

India (2nd Innings) – 303/9 (D) (68.5)

Sri Lanka (2nd Innings) – 208/10 (59.3)

Result – India won by 238 runs

Player of the match – Shreyas Iyer

Player of the series – Rishabh Pant

PAK vs AUS (2nd Test – Day 3)

Coming down to play on the third day with 505 runs for 8 wickets, Australia declared their innings at 556 for 9 wickets. Pakistan was bowled out for 148 in reply. However, the Aussies batted for the second time without compelling the hosts to follow on even after getting a lead by a big margin of 408 runs.

None of the Pakistani batsmen could stand tall due to the brilliancy of the Australian bowlers. Captain Babar Azam continued to fight from one end. But in the end, he could not be patient. The Pakistan captain returned to the pavilion with a catch at long-off in the delivery of the debutant leggy Mitchell Swepson. He made 36 off 79 balls with 3 boundaries.

Earlier, top-order batsmen Imam-ul-Haq scored 20, Abdullah Shafique 13, and Azhar Ali got 14 runs for the hosts. On the last wicket, Nauman Ali (20 *) and Shaheen Afridi (19) made a partnership of 30 runs to take the team score close to 150.

Mitchell Starc was one of the most successful bowlers for Australia. The left-arm pacer has taken 3 wickets for just 29 runs. Mitchell Swepson took two wickets.

Batting in the 2nd innings, Australia scored 81 runs for 1 wicket and end of the day. David Warner returned to the dressing room after falling victim to Hasan Ali with 7 runs. Two Aussie stars, Marnus Labuschagne is unbeaten on 37 and Usman Khawaja on 35 runs.

Scoreboard

Australia (1st Innings) – 556/9 (D) (189.0)

Pakistan (1st Innings) – 148/10 (53.0)