#495 Kohli's 50th international century and magic by Bhuvi-Shami not enough to give India a win as BAD LIGHT has the last laugh; Dimitrov is the new world number 3 and ATP finale event winner and more...:-)
Lanka started day 4 well. They were tested and came out without losing any wickets in first 30 min. They were getting beaten constantly though. Against the run of play, Dickwella who played a good cameo was dismissed of Shami. Shamii dismissed Chandimal of a beauty immediately afterwards. Bhuvi trapped Shanaka in front. All these 3 wickets fell in the space of 3 overs. from 200-4, Lanka were reduced to 201-7. It could have been 8 down. Perera was given out LBW and he was about to leave but changed his minds at lats minute to go for the review. For his luck, ball hit him outside the off stump. Did dressing room assist him or not is a question which only ICC can answer? It did look though that he did get help. Herath later informed that he checekd with umpire if Lanka had reviews left. Once he found he had, Perera took his review. ANyways, that distracted India a bit. Herath and Perera Played out for 14 overs and took score forward. Shami later dismissed Perera. Lanka 244-8. Herath then hit out India to get his 3rd fifty and 2nd against India. He took Lanka to 294. A lead of 122 looked really good. But once Rahul hit a four towards cover boundary, it was clear that Lanka would not get same dream start like in first innings. Dhawan and Rahul hit boundaries at will. Runs came at 4 runs per over. They had 166 opening stand. Rahul reached fity first. This was his 9th test fifty in last 11 innings. Thats staggering. Dhawan hit Herath out of the park. He was unlucky to be dismissed for 94. Only 2 overs were bowled once he was dismissed. India had 49 run lead by end of day 4. Lanka had to reduce India's lead to under 150 to have a chance of winning the match. India had to get to 220 and put Lanka under pressure in last session. Lanka started well. Lakmal picked 3 wickets in quick sucession. from 192-1, India were reduced to 213-4. Rahul was dismissed for 79. Pujara and Rahane didnt score much. Kohli and Jadeja played cautiously for a while. They wanted to ensure that Lankan victory is out of sight. Jadeja was dismissed after making 41 ball 9. Asha and Saha just made 7 and 5 runs respectively. Bhuvi joined Kohli. They both had fun, especially Kohli. He brought up his 50th international and 18th test century with a six. What a player !!. In a pitch where batting was not easy, he scotred 104 of 119. Once he reached century India declared. 231 was target of 30 possible overs. Bhuvi gave India a dream start by dismissing Samarawickrama in very first over. It was Bhuvi's 50th test wicket. SHami castled Karunaratne 3 overs later. Lanka were reduced to 2-2. Match On !!! Lanka went to tea at 8-2. Post tea, Bhuvi created further havoc. He was getting the ball to reverse. He dismissed Thiramane. Lanka 14-3. Umesh trapped Mathews plumb in front. Lanka 22-4. Dickwella and Chandimal then played aggressively to ease the pressure. They played for good 9 overs. India's win looked unlikely. Chandmal and dickwella were dismised in quick sucession. Perera fell soon after to a Bhuvi beauty. Lanka 75-7. STill 5 overs were left. But after a over, umpires declared bad light ended day and the match. Match was drawn.
In Ranji, Karnataka dismissed UP for 331. Shreyas Gopal was star bowler. Samarth and Mayank had unbeaten 266 run stand before match was declared as drawn. Both scored centuries. This was Mayank's 3 century in as many Ranji matches.Delhi beat Maharashtra by innings and 61 runs. Bengal beat Punjab by an innings and 19 runs.
In ATP finale, it was Goffin who started well. He went up a break twice only for Dimitrov to bounce back immediately. Dimitrov broke Goffin in 12th game to win first set 7-5. In 2nd set it was all Goffin who won it 6-4. In final set Dimitrov broke Goffin in 6th game to take 4-2 lead. He eventually won it 6-3. He won 1.9million pounds as a result and also would be new world number 3 . What a week for Bulgarian!! . He is the only unbeaten player this week. Goffin should take confidence having betaen Nadal and Federer. He lost 2 matches and both to Dimitrov this week.