India might be walking wounded a little, but they will still look to pick up a win in the second Test and tie the series against Sri Lanka with a sound bowling performance on Day 5.
A sometimes-aggressive-but-sometimes-puzzlingly-slow batting performance from India, who will be without Murali Vijay and Wriddhiman Saha for the rest of this match and the series, in the second innings set Sri Lanka a target of 413 to chase, with the hosts needing another 341 runs on the final day.
The big moment of the day came when Kumar Sangakkara played his last ever innings in international cricket, managing just 18 runs after succumbing to R Ashwin for the fourth time in four innings in this Test series.
While Sri Lanka and the fans would have been jolted by that big loss, Dimuth Karunaratne, due a big score in this series, and Angelo Mathews steadied the ship somewhat to take Sri Lanka to 72 for two in 21 overs.
Ashwin picked up both wickets for India on Day 4, and you feel he will be the man that Sri Lanka will need to negate if they are to survive on the final day.
While a win looks next to impossible at the moment, the same thing could have been said on Day 3 of the first Test as well, before Sri Lanka pulled off an incredible comeback, and maybe, the desire to send Sangakkara off with a win, will invoke some brilliant batting from the likes of Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Karunaratne, Jehan Mubarak and Lahiru Thirimanne.
India will know creating pressure from the off will be key, and the most important aspect for the visitors on Day 5 will be getting help for Ashwin. In the first Test against Sri Lanka, Ashwin was a lone wolf for the majority of the match, and the onus will be on Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Stuart Binny to ease the pressure on the offspinner.
If India can do that, they will feel confident of levelling the series on Monday.
Where to Watch Live
Get Day 5 Live Blog HERE
India vs Sri Lanka final day of 2nd Test match is scheduled for a 10 am local time (10 am IST, 5.30 am BST, 12.30 am ET) start. Sony Six [English] and Sony Kix [Hindi] will show Day 5 of the 2nd Test match live in India and the rest of the subcontinent, including Sri Lanka.
Audience in the US can watch India vs Sri Lanka live on Willow TV, while the action can also be watched via live streaming online on Willow Online.
South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa viewers can catch the match live on SuperSport, while the live stream option is on SuperSport Live Video.
