Video – Devdutt Padikkal pulls the strings with sparkling century in Colombo
Devdutt Padikkal continued his phenomenal run in Sri Lanka as he got to his second consecutive international Test ton. Starboy DDP sprinkled his stardust in the center as the Lankan bowlers had no response to his well-orchestrated ton after handing him early lifelines in the innings in Colombo.
The very second ball that he faced in the innings from Lahiru Kumara produced a tough chance towards Sonal Dinusha at point and he couldn’t grab it. Padikkal had another lifeline when Keshara Nuwantha eked an edge and Dhananjaya de Silva couldn’t hold onto what was a fairly tough chance in the slip cordon.
What followed was a clinically controlled innings with shots screaming perfection from Padikkal. He was in no rush to fire the thrusters. He took his time, rotated strike and built his innings with unmovable patience.
Padikkal struck his first boundary after facing 32 balls when he smashed Keshara Nuwantha. Soon enough, DDP brought up his half-century from 89 balls when he drove Prabath Jayasuriya through the covers.
Jayasuriya stood in his firing line even during his second century. Batting on 91, he took on the former in the 70th over and knitted together an exquisite cut shot to move to 95. The following ball saw him smack one through cover point to move to 99. He took a little breath before pushing the last ball of the 70th over for a quick single, bringing up back-to-back centuries in the series.
Padikkal’s innings came to an end at 117 as the southpaw rocked 12 fours, en route to what was another special knock. Padikkal laid the foundation of India’s charge on Day 1 as they amassed 300 runs for the loss of five wickets at the end of the first day.
