Talent is exciting. Aggression is fun. But on tough Test-match days, resolve tends to win out.
Midway through day four of the second Test, Sri Lanka can sight a sliver of an opening. Teams following-on almost never get close. But for the first time in the series, they are stretching India's resources.
Pasindu Sooriyabandara is deep into another impressive innings, his second in successive days, this one more dynamic than day three's effort, because the man has made calculated strikes against India's spinners, and those risks have begun to pay off. Even when series top wicket-taker Manav Suthar is operating, there are no close catchers in, and fielders have been scattered into the hinterlands. What's more, Suthar is pitching it into the rough hoping for some big turn to happen, and for Sooriyabandara to swipe at one, and with luck, miscue it high into the air, the ball likelier to rag from the right-armers' footmarks than from anywhere else.
Third ball of the 42nd over, Suthar is tango-ing with the rough again, and Sooriyabandara spots an opportunity. Maybe he is seeing the sliver of an opening too. He gets low, and throws all his energy into a slog sweep, connects sweetly, and the ball carves a glorious parabola high over deep midwicket. Sooriyabandara is really feeling himself. The shot is one clue. That he played the no-look variety of the slog sweep is another. Cut that clip. Put it on a hard drive. The grandkids will want to see it.
Sri Lanka are only 36 runs behind, with eight wickets in hand. On day five, could they stretch India with the bat, as they have been doing with the ball? The crowd at the SSC had begun to sense the possibility. At no point through the four days did the stadium burst into life as it does after that six. This Wednesday is a public holiday in Sri Lanka - the Prophet's birthday. Thursday is Poya - another holiday. (The island takes days off seriously.) Some baila plays over the speakers. The sliver of an opening now has a potential party attached to it, SSC likely to pack out on day five if a Sri Lanka win is on serious offer.
Potentially, this is the kind of result that breathes life into Sri Lankan cricket - another come-from-behind turnaround built upon runs or wickets from unlikely sources. Sooriyabandara is playing his first full Test, while Sonal Dinusha is their series top-scorer. Wins such as this tend to be sufficient to send thousands of children eagerly into the lanes and fields surrounding their homes, to revel in and recreate just-witnessed heroics. In the past 15 years, Sri Lankan cricket has been sustained primarily by these improbable one-offs.
But they are up against one of the world's toughest opponents, and India, for whatever flaws have been exposed over the past two sessions, are not short of resolve. Sri Lanka have scored 5.54 runs an over across the last 13, but India continue to press. They have tried the short-ball attack against Kamindu Mendis all series. They have been trying it again on day four. In the 40th over, Kamindu had crashed a Prasidh Krishna short ball through square leg for four, and then later in the over, reached his fifty by blasting a bouncer high, on to the roof of the pavilion stand.
India could have sensed the hope bubbling up around the SSC, and begun to doubt. They could, at this stage, have begun to rue the decision to enforce the follow-on, when they could easily have given their bowlers a rest for a couple of sessions. They had bowled almost 90 overs in the first innings, in exceedingly humid conditions. Their quicks were quite clearly fatigued, Mohammad Siraj having even been off the field in the early parts of the day after landing heavily on his side attempting a catch.
But Test cricket rewards patience. It rewards enduring pain. It rewards bouncing back from setbacks, and pushing ahead on battered limbs and with exhausted minds. Late in a Test, when teams find themselves physically depleted, the will to bite down, dig deep, and grind, wins through.
Prasidh tries a short ball to Kamindu again at the start of the 43rd over. This is chest-high, and not especially quick. Kamindu tries to repeat the shot into the roof, but this time, he is a fraction late. It lobs over towards square leg, where India captain Shubman Gill sights it early, starts sprinting back, as he tracks it over his shoulder, making one sharp turn as he aligns himself with its descent. He leaps off his feet to complete a difficult catch. India, have by this stage, have spent 133 consecutive overs in the field. But the bowler still strives. The captain still tracks down a tough catch.
This wicket, and the breaking of this leftie-rightie stand is where the day begins to unravel for Sri Lanka. Having got to 83 at a strike rate of 72, Sooriyabandara diminishes alarmingly in batting presence. After Kamindu goes, his next 52 balls yield only seven runs - a strike rate of 13. He goes to tea on 90, but shows little ambition afterwards. Around the 61st over, Sooriyabandara has begun to feel frustrated, and appears to have itchy feet. He tries a big sweep to Suthar off the second ball of that over, and is given lbw, but has inside-edged the ball.
Next delivery, Suthar is already suspecting Sooriyabandara will try something risky. And when the batter starts running at him before he has even delivered the ball, Suthar shoots one wide of off stump, and has Sooriyabandara stumped. This batter has been nailing boundaries off this bowler all day, but Suthar's mind remained agile. He thought his way to his 15th wicket of the series.
By the end of the day, things rested largely where they had begun. India were still overwhelming favourites. Sri Lanka needed a miraculous innings or rain to save them. Dinusha remained not out.
Ideally they would have closed out the game on day four, but once Sri Lanka began to fight, India reached into their well of resolve. They bit down, dug deep, and ground their way to success.