Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant put India on road to victory against Sri Lanka

Half-centuries from Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant combined with inspired bowling put India on the road to victory in the second Test against Sri Lanka on Sunday

The tourists were 28-1 at stumps while chasing a daunting 447 for victory after Day 2 in Bangalore. Jasprit Bumrah struck in the first over to trap opener Lahiru Thirimanne lbw for a duck but skipper Dimuth Karunaratne (10) and Kusal Mendis (16) saw out the final few overs of the day, with the tourists still 419 runs behind.

Having bowled out Sri Lanka for 109 in the first session, India batted 69 overs before declaring on 303-9 with Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant reaching 50 while other Indian batsmen failed to kick-on from solid starts.

Skipper Rohit Sharma, playing his 400th international match, holed out in the deep to fall four runs short of his fifty, while Hanuma Vihari (35) was bowled by spinner Praveen Jayawickrama as he tried to sweep.

Jayawickrama struck again to surprise Virat Kohli (13) with a delivery that turned sharply and kept low, trapping him lbw in identical fashion to his dismissal in the first innings.

Kohli gave a wry smile as silence descended on the M Chinnaswamy Stadium with a near-capacity crowd hoping to see the former captain end his century drought.

The star batsman's Test average has fallen below 50 for the first time since 2017 and he has gone without a century for 73 international innings.

India bowler Jasprit Bumrah took 5-24 in Sri Lanka's first innings. AFP

But Pant took the game away from the Lankans by going after the bowling as soon as he walked to the crease, bringing up his fifty with seven fours and two sixes.

Made from 28 balls, his half century was the fastest by an Indian batsman, breaking the record set by Kapil Dev