SL vs IND 1st Test: India conquer spin demon, renew WTC Final charge in Galle
India renewed their charge for the World Test Championship final, beating Sri Lanka by 165 runs in the opening Test. Manav Suthar’s 6/55 handed India an epic escape on the final day, just in the nick of time, before rain came pouring down at the Galle International Stadium.
Suthar picked up four wickets in his last 10 balls, dramatically bringing down the curtains on a day when India’s spinners had struggled to pick wickets. Only minutes after the last wicket fell, rain came pouring down at the stadium, forcing all the players indoors.
SL vs IND, 1st Test Day 5: Highlights
Rain had threatened to take over the scene at the start of the day, with all the predictions pointing towards a washout. A draw would have dealt a terrible blow to India’s World Test Championship campaign, where they are currently sitting fifth in the table.
Thankfully, the showers stayed away, allowing a timely start to the match and handing India the best chance to pick up the six remaining wickets on the final day of the Test. Sri Lanka needed 372 runs to win in the final innings, making victory an improbable proposition, but they could force India into a long toil by blocking them out until the arrival of rain.
The joy on the Indian faces was wiped away early in the day when Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva and young all-rounder Sonal Dinusha dug deep in the morning session. De Silva blocked and cut effectively, hitting Jadeja for boundaries, while Dinusha swept the ball with disdain to keep the Indian spinners at bay.
GAMBHIR BREAKS THE GAME
With absolutely nothing happening in the middle, India head coach Gautam Gambhir called Ravindra Jadeja in for a chat, changed his end, changed his angles and asked him to bowl again. The move worked.
Sri Lanka captain de Silva, who had been blocking with ease, eventually got rattled by Jadeja’s constant attack on the stumps and top-edged his paddle sweep, resulting in the first wicket of the day and breaking a 95-run stand between the captain and the bowling all-rounder.
India doubled down on the wicket, dismissing Niroshan Dickwella just before lunch. Dickwella, brought back into international cricket, was expected to build on the effort by his captain but ended up getting rage-baited by Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was constantly asking him to hit the bowlers for six.
Dickwella lost his head, tried to attack Prasidh Krishna and ended up edging his cut shot to the wicketkeeper.
The Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batter’s wicket, after he had been part of a 146-run partnership with Dinusha in the first innings, turned out to be gold dust for India, who found belief that they could win the game.
DINUSHA RESISTS, BUT SUTHAR WRECKS SL
Dinusha’s terrific resistance, during which he scored 84 runs off 128 balls, came to an end in the 76th over of the innings, a little after lunch.
Dinusha, who had mastered batting on the turning surface, ended up falling to a soft dismissal against Manav Suthar.
Suthar, bowling his left-arm spin from round the wicket, pitched a delivery on the leg stump. By his standards it was a loose delivery to a batter who had been doing really well throughout the day. But that loose ball ended up inducing an inside edge from Dinusha, who was caught at leg slip by Dhruv Jurel. It was an anticlimactic end for a batter who had played exceptionally in both innings of the match, aggregating 184 runs in the Galle Test.
Once Suthar broke through, it was a free fall for Sri Lanka, who ended up losing Prabath Jayasuriya and Lahiru Kumara in the same over. Prabath was clean bowled after playing the wrong line, while Lahiru was caught behind by the wicketkeeper and opted not to review the decision.
The wicket of Lahiru Kumara was Suthar’s fifth in the innings, giving him his second five-wicket haul in two Test matches. And his first 10-wicket-haul in 2 Tests.
Eventually, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 206 in the second session of the final day of the opening Test.
A BIG BOOST OF CONFIDENCE FOR INDIA
India arrived in Sri Lanka with big questions over their credentials against spin. They had lost to New Zealand and South Africa at home in back-to-back years, raising questions over the team’s ability to play and bowl spin.
Those doubts will thankfully be allayed for a while, as the Shubman Gill-led side began their two-Test series in style in tricky conditions in Sri Lanka.
A TEST MATCH WON BY BATTERS
While India brought about a dramatic collapse in the Sri Lankan innings, with Suthar picking up 10 wickets in the Test match, make no mistake that the visitors stayed ahead in the game from the very first day, courtesy of Devdutt Padikkal’s fantastic 167 in the first innings of the match.
Padikkal, who was brought into the series due to an injury to India’s No. 3 Sai Sudharsan, made sure that India did not need to panic on a turning track. The batter added 162 runs alongside KL Rahul in the first innings, handing India a huge total in the first innings of the game.
Padikkal was named Player of the Match in the first Test.
India doubled down on their batting effort with Mohammed Siraj’s sensational spell on the second and third days, when he bowled three maidens in his nine overs and dismissed opener Nishan Madushka for a duck.
Apart from Sonal Dinusha (100) and Niroshan Dickwella (80), none of the Sri Lankan batters made a difference, and the team was bowled out for 284, conceding a massive first-innings lead.
India opted for some rapid runs in their second innings, hoping to have enough time in hand to bowl out Sri Lanka.
Rishabh Pant was the star of the show, hitting 66 off just 69 balls and helping India reach 193. The target of 372 would have needed the best out of the Sri Lankan side, but they were far from it.
Sri Lanka lost four quick wickets at the end of Day 4 and, apart from their resistance in the morning session of Day 5, could not do much against the Indian bowlers in the opening Test.
– Ends
