India vs Sri Lanka 2017: 1st Test, Day 3 - 5 things we learnt from the day's play

After dismissing India for 172, Sri Lanka have come within eight runs of taking a lead at the end of play on the third day. A brilliant 99-run partnership between Lahiru Thirimanne and Angelo Mathews underscored the visitors' sparkling performance.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar kept probing the Lankan batsmen with swing and seam movement. He accounted for the wickets of both openers. When it seemed like the match was slipping away from them, Umesh Yadav provided India with a major breakthrough by getting rid of Thirimanne. The express pacer also procured the wicket of Mathews to bring the hosts back into the contest.

Earlier, Pujara completed a well-deserved half-century before being cleaned up Lahiru Gamage. Even though the tail wagged a bit, Dilruwan Perera and the seamers halted India's charge. Here are five things we learnt from the third day's play at Eden Gardens.

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#5 Thirimanne and Mathews smack half-centuries

Sri Lanka had the better of the batting conditions on offer but still needed to make it count. They lost their openers quite early but Thirimanne and Mathews resurrected their innings with a fighting 99-run partnership.

India's seam bowlers toiled away but Thirimanne and Mathews kept putting away the loose balls to the boundary. They constantly rotated the strike to take Lanka closer to India's first innings total. Thirimanne, who was reprieved by Dhawan earlier, fell soon after his half-century. He edged Umesh Yadav to Virat Kohli at slip. Soon after, Mathews followed suit by playing a horrendous shot.

#4 Pujara's issues against in-swing

Pujara is India's best bet in tough batting conditions

Cheteshwar Pujara is a dogged run-scorer. He nurdles, caresses and tenders the ball to fetch runs rather than walloping it to the fence. He may not be as effective as Dhawan or Kohli on flat decks. But nobody beats him when the situation demands batting out time.

He scored a handy half-century against the Lankans across two days marred by rain but found himself cleaned up by Lahiru Gamage. Gamage managed to seam the ball in and exploited a weakness long known in Pujara's batting. The South African seamers would have been watching and taking notes to exploit this chink in the Saurashtra batsman's armoury.

#3 Lower-order comes to India's rescue

Mohammed Shami pounded some hefty shots to shore up India's total

With Pujara falling on 52 and India reeling at 79/6, the prospect of letting Sri Lanka have a profound advantage increased. However, Wriddhiman Saha hung around for a few balls even as Ravindra Jadeja went for his shots in what was an entertaining phase in the game. Jadeja even smoked a six off Dilruwan Perera but departed soon after to the same bowler.

Shami carried on from where Jadeja and Saha left off and added some vital few runs to the Indian total. It wasn't by any means conventional, but he got runs at rapid pace and India had some momentum to work with when they came out to bowl.

#2 Bhuvneshwar edges ahead in third seamer race

Bhuvneshwar picked up the first two Lankan wickets to fall

After being smashed for seven off his first two balls by Sadeera Samarawickrama, Bhuvneshwar Kumar made a resounding return by dismissing both openers in consecutive overs. He deceived Karunaratne with a big in-swinger in the fifth ball of the fifth over. The left-hander shouldered arms and was trapped in front.

Samarawickrama was then undone by a classic out-swinger on the next over and Bhuvneshwar had two in his kitty. As India move on overseas, Bhuvneshwar's swing bowling will be a huge boost and he has certainly put his hand up to be India's third seamer behind Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav.

#1 Sri Lanka get their noses in front

Dickwella will be a key figure in Sri Lanka's middle-order

Although the Eden Gardens Test appears to be heading towards a draw, the game has seen a confidence boosting performance from a Sri Lankan team which looked mediocre at best when India toured their country few months ago. Their bowlers were right on the money, their fielding was decent and they started off their first innings reasonably well.

Half-centuries from Thirimanne and Mathews have put Lanka within touching distance of gaining a lead at close of play on third day. But they need to show that the lower middle-order can take them to a pretty handy total. It may not realise much benefit in this Test but would do a world of good for their confidence to know that they have it in them to counter the Indians.