Galle: Powered by a scintillating spell of 6-55 from young left-arm spinner Manav Suthar, India sealed a commanding 165-run victory over Sri Lanka on day five of the opening Test at the Galle International Stadium on Wednesday.
In only his second Test appearance, Suthar ripped through the opposition’s batting order in the second innings to finish with match figures of 10-101, as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 206 in 77.4 overs, despite stiff resistance from Dhananjaya de Silva and Sonal Dinusha, in what was also Galle’s landmark 50th Test match.
The emphatic win coming on a sluggish, low-bounce pitch gave India an early 1-0 lead in the two-match series and get 12 vital World Test Championship (WTC) points in what was their milestone 600th Test match, as Suthar ensured his second five-wicket haul in as many Tests and his first-ever ten-for had rendered the second new ball completely redundant.
In the morning, resuming on a pitch offering variable bounce, de Silva and Dinusha fought valiantly through the opening 90 minutes. After bringing up the fifty of their partnership, de Silva got his fifty by cutting Ravindra Jadeja through point for four, while Dinusha launched Kuldeep Yadav over deep midwicket for a maximum to reach his half-century in style.
However, India broke the frustrating 95-run stand off 202 through Ravindra Jadeja, who extracted sharp turn and bounce on a fuller ball angled at stumps to catch de Silva’s top edge on an attempted sweep and gave a comfortable catch to Manav Suthar at short fine leg to fall for 59.
One brought two scalps for India as Prasidh Krishna, operating with sustained heat, removed wicketkeeper-batter Dickwella for 10. Dickwella never looked comfortable at the crease and even had a quirky exchange with Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was stationed at square leg.
On the last ball of the 60th over, Dickwella shuffled across his stumps to a back-of-a-length delivery outside the leg stump, but could only give a feather edge off Krishna behind to Rishabh Pant.
Keshara Nuwantha then joined a resolute Dinusha to safely navigate the remaining overs before the lunch break arrived. Resuming after lunch, Dinusha, who batted flawlessly after scoring a century in the first innings, advanced to 84 and appeared on course for getting his second hundred of the game.
But a crafty and effective Suthar turned the match decisively in India’s favour with a devastating triple-wicket maiden in the 76th over. Suthar broke the partnership when he got an extra bit of bounce off a flighted ball outside leg-stump and forced Dinusha to glove to Dhruv Jurel at leg gully.
On the very next delivery, Suthar castled Prabath Jayasuriya for a golden duck with a in-drifter that gripped off the pitch to clip the top of off stump. Lahiru Kumara safely negotiated the hat-trick ball, but Suthar switched to round the wicket two balls later to find his outside edge that was caught behind by Rishabh Pant, as he completed his second five-wicket haul in as many Tests.
Ravindra Jadeja and India’s slip cordon maintained high pressure from the other end, though Sri Lanka’s last pair of Nuwantha and Asitha Fernando briefly delayed the inevitable. Nuwantha showed defiance by paddle-sweeping Suthar for a boundary to take Sri Lanka past the 200-run mark.
But Suthar finished off the game in the 78th over when his quicker arm ball skidded off the pitch and breached Nuwantha’s defence to castle him for 20 and spark jubilant scenes in the Indian dressing room.
India’s victory was also anchored by Devdutt Padikkal’s magnificent first-innings knock of 167, which gave India a massive 178-run cushion. Rishabh Pant’s calculative 66 in second innings further allowed Suthar and the Indian bowling attack to exploit the turning surface and seal a comprehensive triumph.
Brief scores: India 462 and 193 beat Sri Lanka 284 and 206 in 77.4 overs (Sonal Dinusha 84, Dhananjaya de Silva 59; Manav Suthar 6-55, Prasidh Krishna 2-16) by 165 runs
(IANS)
