Indian batsman-keeper Rishabh Pant became the fastest half centurion for India in the longest format of the game after reaching 50 runs in just 28 balls. On a pitch where most of the players struggled to read turn and bounce, Pant went about his usual belligerence on Sunday, 13 March, entertaining the Bangalore crowd.
Walking into bat after the dismissal of Hanuma Vihari, Pant attacked from word go, hitting the second ball for a huge six. He used his lightning quick feet to get upto the pitch of the ball and swung his blade as hard as he possibly could. The departure of Kohli (13 off 16) did not seem to dent his confidence as he became more aggressive accompanying his former Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer on the pitch.
He drilled an offspinning delivery from Praveen Jayawickrama for four through the extra cover for four to bring up his feat in 28 balls. However, his innings did not last very long after that as he skied a shot straight up in the sky for the Jayawickrama to grab an easy catch in the final ball of the same over.
At the time of dismissal, India were 184/5 leading SL by a mammoth 327 runs. The pitch has already shown signs of breaking, with several rough patches forming in the 22 yards. It would be interesting to see if India do declare in the final session today and make Sri Lanka bat under the lights like they did on Day 1 or if they play through the day and put in as many runs as possible before letting the visiting team have a go for the final innings.