IND vs SL: Sonal's century rescues Sri Lanka, India post 462 before restricting hosts to 284

In a series of interesting updates, a dramatic Day 3 at the Galle International Stadium saw Sri Lanka mount a heroic middle-order fightback before India's spin bowling attack dismantled the hosts for just 284, securing a commanding Day 2, India was bowled out for 462 behind Devdutt Padikkal superb 167, setting up an intense opening session where Indian seamers and spinners made light work of Sri Lanka's top order.

Big fightback from Sri Lanka

India banked on the early morning seam movement to reduce Sri Lanka to a precarious 90 for 5 before the lunch break. Mohammed Siraj drew first blood in the opening over by removing Nishan Madushka for a duck, creating the way for young spinner Manav Suthar to dismantle the top order with key dismissals. Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja compounded Sri Lanka's misery, highlighted by Indian captain Shubman Gill pulling off a spectacular catch at extra cover to remove Kamindu Mendis.

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facing a big trouble, Niroshan Dickwella and Sonal Dinusha engineered a fighting turnaround for the hosts. The duo stitched a marvelous stand of 146 runs for the sixth wicket. Frustrating the Indian bowling lineup throughout the second session with a mix of patient defense and sharp counter-attacking boundaries. Dinusha went on to rotate the strike, raising a hard-fought hundred (100) to keep Sri Lanka alive.

Great show from Indian spinners

The breakthrough finally came when Prasidh Krishna finished Dickwella's gritty knock of 80 runs, opening the gates for India to remove the entire tail. Suthar finished the innings with an impressive figures of 4/76, while Jadeja clinched 3 wickets to restrict Sri Lanka to 284 in 79.4 overs. Holding a 178-run lead, India enters Day 4 firmly in control of the first Test.