GALLE: Rishabh Pant's quintessential 66 and Devdutt Padikkal's smooth 44 led India to 193 all out in their second innings, raising an improbable target of 372 in front of Sri Lanka at tea on the fourth day of the first Test here on Tuesday.
The lead has already gone past the highest ever successful chase in Test cricket at the Galle stadium— 344 by Pakistan in 2022.
Sri Lankan bowlers were suitably rewarded for using the pitch and conditions to good effect with regular wickets.
But Padikkal first and Pant later ensured that there will not be too many jitters in the Indian camp.
Pant twisted, turned, twirled and fell down while executing his shots in typical Pant-style to reach a 53-ball fifty.
The left-hander reached the little landmark with a six off pacer Lahiru Kumara, and he added 54 runs for the sixth wicket Ravindra Jadeja.
Pant's adventures ended with a snick to stumper Niroshan Dickwella off Kumara.
Earlier, Padikkal, who made a 167 in the first innings, looked in perfect touch again.
The left-hander swept and cut spinners at will, giving India some valuable runs to break away from the home side.
A straight punch off off-spinner Keshara Nuwantha was the standout shot of his innings, as Padikkal showed the penchant to put away even good balls.
But the Karnataka man eventually fell to a zipping ball from off-spinner Keshara Nuwantha that pinned him to the back foot.
Padikkal did resort to DRS but to no avail.
However, India’s second innings had a shaky start as a laden-footed Yashasvi Jaiswal edged pacer Asitha Fernando to Dickwella in the first over itself.
Jaiswal, now largely a one-format player, will have to find a way to register some serious runs under his belt before the patience of bigwigs wears thin.
He has just one fifty in the last eight Test innings, and that is too lean for an opener assigned to give his team a solid start.
KL Rahul looked solid as ever and even added a dash of aggression to his innings, clobbering Prabath Jayasuriya for two sixes — one over long off and another to the sight screen
But Rahul, who escaped from a leg-before decision through DRS on 25, perished to Jayasuriya after adding 65 runs for the second wicket with Padikkal.
Captain Shubman Gill too did not last long, falling leg before to Jayasuriya.
However, Sri Lanka lost Dinesh Chandimal’s presence due to a shoulder injury which he suffered while fielding at boundary. He has been taken to hospital for a precautionary scan.
Later, he was cleared of any major injury and should be available to bat in the fourth innings.