India fight off Dinusha and rain with a thumping victory in their 600th Test

ICC World Test Championship

The visiting Indian team completed an emphatic 165-run victory over the hosts Sri Lanka in their 600th Test match. Devdutt Padikkal, who replaced the injured Sai Sudharsan scored his maiden Test hundred and aggregated over 200 runs in this fixture, helping his side reach a total of 462 runs in the first innings, which laid the platform for this remarkable win in the 50th Test match at the Galle International Stadium. With the ball, Manav Suthar claimed his second fifer and a maiden career 10 wicket-haul as the Indian Bowling attack was too hot to handle for the Lankans. They now hold an unassailable 1-0 lead in this two-match series before the second Test begins at the SSC from Sunday. Rain tried to threaten the end result, but India just about sneaked in the final 6 wickets on Day 5, a few minutes before it started pelting heavily.

The hosts would be disappointed by another sub-par effort from the batting line-up in home conditions, leaving them on the brink of the World Test Championship elimination for the fourth consecutive term. They again played some loose shots and the top order fell very early in both innings before Sonal Dinusha provided some resistance, with scores of 100 & 84. Injuries to Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis had already made the task difficult for them before their most experienced player, Dinesh Chandimal also suffered a concussion while fielding which led to debut of Pasindu Sooriyabandara, who got out for a golden duck in his debut innings for Sri Lanka. All the three experienced middle order batters have been ruled out of the final test as confirmed by their head coach Gary Kirsten.

Devdutt Padikkal presents a strong claim for No.3 role

After bursting on the domestic scene with a bumper start, Padikkal went through a dull period until the last season of Ranji Trophy, where he accumulated 543 runs at an average of 60.33 with a highest of 232. Karnataka played the final losing to Jammu and Kashmir comfortably on the first innings lead margin. Padikkal did not play all their league games, but was a crucial part of their journey to the final with a match-winning double hundred in the semi-finals versus Uttarakhand. Although he has not lit up the First-Class arena with heaps of runs, the national selectors named him in the squad for the India A series in Sri Lanka last month. The two-match battle was headlined by Sai Sudharsan’s twin centuries as Padikkal played his part with a couple of solid half centuries, proving his prowess against spin. An unfortunate toe injury to Sai opened up the gates for Padikkal, who did not waste this golden chance.

Devdutt Padikkal was playing his first game for India since Nov 2024

Padikkal scored an unbeaten century in the Warm-up fixture before the start of this series, stamping his presence on the No.3 position. Since captain Shubman Gill's decision to drop down at No.4 in the batting order, India’s No.3 had not scored a century in the previous 19 games. Padikkal corrected this immediately, scoring a mammoth 167 and came back in the second innings to form another crucial partnership with his domestic teammate KL Rahul, helping India bolster their grip on this clash. Padikkal came to the crease when Yashasvi Jaisawal was unfortunately run-out with the team score reading 47. After electing to bat on a typical Galle wicket, their batters could not have enjoyed easier playing conditions and made the chance count by finishing Day one at 288-2.

The tall Southpaw has a game tailor-made for spin bowling with a long reach and the ability to adjust late. Predominantly a back-foot player, Padikkal dominated the Sri Lankan spinners with relative ease scoring at a strike rate of 72.57 versus spin in the first innings. He was watchful versus the pacers and used his beautifully against the duo of Prabhat Jayasuriya and Kesahra Nuwantha, not offering a single chance in his 230-ball stay. Padikkal returned in the second innings and made 44, ensuring India did not let go of advantage. Having made his debut against England in 2024, Padikkal was playing only his third Test match. His inexperience never showed, and the most impressive part of his innings was how he led the charge with the bat allowing others to play around him. In Sai's absence, Padikkal has already hit bulls-eye in the initial attempt, and another impressive outing in the final game of this series would mean the musical chair for the No.3 spot is won by Padikkal for the time-being.

Sonal Dinusha raises the stakes as others yield lightly 

In one of my previous blogs, I had already covered the giants strides Sonal Dinusha had taken on his last tour to West Indies fulfilling the role assigned to him, honestly and diligently. Dinusha made his debut last year at SSC, Colombo versus Bangladesh replacing the renowned Angelo Matthews post his retirement. Dinusha came into this series as one of the newest members of the Sri Lankan team, yet at 25 he has shown excellent temperament in his short international career so far. Playing as a spin bowling all-rounder, he was summoned for only 4 overs in the first innings as their front-line bowlers handled bulk of the load.

A middle-order batter by trade, Dinusha averages over 46 in First-Class cricket with the bat which made the selectors take notice of his strengths having scored consistently on slow tracks. Batting at No.6, he saw the top order collapse against the flight and guile of the Indian spinners, notably Manav Suthar who was relentless with his accuracy and variations in speed. Sonal brought out the sweep as his primary scoring shot to counter the spinning trio. He build a 146-run partnership with Niroshan Dickwella with the team struggling at 90-5, batting with total comfort on a pitch which started to take ample turn from the third day. Dinusha was troubled by the extra bounce of Prasidh Krishna at times, still he played spin bowling without feeling threatened. With a maiden century to follow-up a 92 from his previous game, Dinusha proved why he has been the only highlight of this WTC cycle for Sri Lanka up till now.

Sonal Dinusha averages 61.67 from four Tests with the bat scoring 370 runs

The home side needed his services yet again in the second innings, this time to ensure Sonal can stay and stretch the game to give them an unfeasible draw in case rain decides to play spoilsport. Another top order collapse put India in the driving seat, although Dinusha was not ready to give up so easily. Using soft hands and reading the length early he brought strong defence in picture negotiating the extra turn and bounce provided by the surface. Dinusha developed a substantial alliance with his captain Dhananjaya de Silva slowly pushing the scoreboard forward and making sure his team continued to fight rather than falling away disappointingly. Once the Silva fell to Jadeja to-edging a sweep to fine leg, Sri Lanka’s resistance was almost over. Dinusha looked certain to repeat his heroes from the first innings, but was dismissed for 84 as India removed the tail swiftly, taking four wickets for 7 runs in a  space of 16 balls. 

If not for the young southpaw, the hosts would have been staring at a huge margin of defeat as all other players surrendered against the quality of their opponents. Some of the shots Dinusha played in this match were incredibly captivating. When Shubman Gill placed a couple of fielders at the square leg boundary to limit the output from his sweep shot, Dinusha came down the track and lofted one over mid-on without any extra effort. His left-arm orthodox bowling is an added benefit, which the national side has not yet explored. In 69 First-Class fixtures, he has taken 133 wickets at bowling average of 28.18. Any international side would kill for a spin-bowling all-rounder of his caliber, half of which we have already witnessed. The management should now try to use his bowling more going forward, which would give them a fair idea of how they can field their XI in different conditions with Dinusha acting as a proper spinner if needed. Sonal Dinusha will now return to the same ground where he made his debut one year ago hoping to inspire his team following a forgettable outing at Galle.

Jadeja, Suthar and a master-prodigy story

Since the start of his red ball career for India, Jadeja primarily played second fiddle to Ravichandran Ashwin trying to match his craft and seldomly out-performing him in sub-continent conditions. Considered as a decent lower-order batter in his early days, Jadeja’s chief weapon was his accuracy as a finger spinner which brought him a cluster of wickets as the batters struggled on slower Asian tracks. His left-handedness gave India an acute advantage helping them in their domination at home thanks to the deadly spin duo. Once he was given a defined role with the bat, Jadeja transitioned into becoming their best over the past few years. This is something he has mentioned several times in his interviews. With Ashwin's retirement at the start of 2025 and Jadeja taking his batting role more seriously, India was on the lookout for the next generation of spinners. Washington Sundar replaced Ashwin as the off-spinning version however, a 2-0 defeat to South Africa at home opened a can of worms.

Although he is still one of the fittest member of the squad, Jadeja is already 37 years old and not getting any younger. The management put a plan in place to groom a few left-arm finger spinners once the veteran hangs up his boots. Manav Suthar was handed the initial bragging rights in the national side for the Test with Afghanistan at New Chandigarh Stadium. A 6-wicket haul, and a Player of the match performance was enough for the selectors to give him a longer rope, even when Jadeja‘s return for this tour was announced. Washington's unfortunate injury only aided Suthar's chances to take center-stage once again. Playing only his second Test match, Suthar came in as the first-change ahead of both Kuldeep Yadav and Ravidra Jadeja in the first innings. His response came in form of a first-ball wicket. Suthar landed a beauty, which turned and bounced sharply taking the outside edge of Chandimal's blade and landed straight into Rishabh Pant's gloves.

The Indian left-arm spinners took 15 wickets in this Test, joint highest for them in a single match

While Suthar gave the ball tons of flight to extract extra bounce from the wicket, Jadeja kept it simple and at the stumps often troubling the batters with small degree of movement. His opening wicket in the first innings came in typical fashion getting one to drift and spin slightly away from the de Siva with KL Rahul taking a simple catch at slip. Jadeja trapped The Sri Lankan centurion from the first innings on the backfoot, catching him plumb in front of the stumps via a good length delivery turning in sharply. Both the lefties combines to take seven wickets in the first innings, giving us a glimpse of both the past and future of Indian cricket at the same time.

Their second innings belonged entirely to Suthar who finished with 6-55, his second consecutive 6-wicket haul in International cricket which broke the back of the Sri Lankan batting. Suthar was awarded the new-ball role alongside Mohammed Siraj in the second outing as he trapped the concussion sub Pasindu on debut for a golden duck, which was over-turned on review by the Indian team. On the final day, Sri Lanka's seventh wicket partnership troubled their opponents as rain threatened to make an appearance. Sudhar dismissed their best player of the match Dinusha, caught at leg slip with another flighted ball which bounced extra. Suthar showed his tricks on the very next delivery, bowling an arm ball which hit the stump bamboozling Jayasuriya. Two wickets in the next 10 deliveries meant, India completed a crucial win in the context of the WTC a few minutes before rain started falling steadily. With 17 wickets including a maiden 10-wicket haul, Suthar now stands third Narendra Hirwani and Axar Patel as the third-highest wicket-taker for the visitors from the opening two Tests. His rise in Indian cricket has ensured the team doesn't need to rely solely on Jadeja with the ball. The skill that Suthar possesses so early career makes you think why this player was not producing headlines before he came to the spotlight a couple of months ago. The selectors would be relieved to see him fulfilling this vacant bowling role and with the domestic line-up filled with a supply of many such talented cricketers, Indian spin-bowling continues to stay in safe hands. Washington's return to this side is only going to make things more exciting.

Sri Lanka's batting complacency persists 

For a team which mostly organizes two-match affairs in the WTC, Sri Lanka should be better aware of the repercussions a side faces when they underperform in the opening fixture. Twice in two consecutive series, the Sri Lankan batters have let the team down with mediocre displays. The lack of match-practice combined with the spicy Antigua pitch cornered the Asian nation as the folded for just 101 in the second innings giving West Indies their biggest victory over Sri Lanka in cricket by an innings and 217 runs. Their batting improved in the second game, but the end result was a tame draw and a 1-0 series loss for the visitors.

On this occasion, no such scenarios were in play since they were playing at Galle, a venue which has hosted 14 of their last 17 Test fixtures in this country. Toss always plays a huge role in this part of the world and India enjoyed the best batting conditions on the starting two days recording a reasonable 462 in the opening essay. The pitch started assisting spinners slowly, although it was not unplayable by any means. Siraj, who has always been a horn for the Sri Lankan side struck with the second ball, taking the edge of Nishan Madhushka's bat, who poked at away going delivery which should have been left alone. Lahiru Udara played a loose cut, failing to get on top of the bounce and giving a simple cash to Jaiswal at backward point. Captain de Silva could have done better having played Jadeja enough in his career yet he fell to a delivery which turned slightly and took the edge to 1st slip.

The application was missing from most of the batting lineup even after possessing the knowledge of local conditions and winning similar matches in the past. Taking nothing away from the visiting Bowling line-up, India started with a few early wickets again in the second innings. Siraj bounced out Madhushka on a slow pitch and their best better Kamindu Mendis edged a back of the length delivery to 1st slip, trying to slash it away when better restrained was required. The top order has continued to fail for them and now find they themselves 1-0 down once again, giving the hosts no chance to win the series and also losing meaningful WTC points. Sri Lanka play South Africa at home and both Pakistan and New Zealand away next for a standard two-match Test series. Even though the FTP for the next few years is not yet announced, it's hard to imagine them increasing their number of tests per tour. The coaching staff needs to convey the importance of the opening clash in a short tour in order to start the series on a good note and be better prepared in the future. Bangladesh's rise in the WTC table and the ICC rankings should increase pressure on likes of Sri Lanka and Pakistan, who need to tighten themselves or they might be falling down the packing order in the coming few years. The onus for their improvement lies on their batting department which is a bare minimum for Sri Lanka rack up of few wins in the longest moment which this side needs desperately.

India produces a perfect game

From the moment the coin fell in India’s favor and Gill elected to bat first, they had the upper hand. The visitors enjoyed helpful batting conditions for the first two days and they doubled down on this opportunity, even though there were a few interruptions by rain and bad light. KL Rahul’s form has been top-notch in this WTC with 913 runs at an average of 50.72. Following the early run-out of his opening partner, Rahul and Padikkal combined for a 115-run partnership before Rahul retired hurt with cramps in this right arm. Padikkal continued to score freely unfazed by the bowling plans from his opponents. Post the fall of Padikkal, Jurel played positively to collect his second 50 in Test cricket. Sri Lanka gave away runs at almost 4 over failing to create an impact. Lahiru Kumara bowled with an economy of 5.8 while debutant Nuwantha ended up with 3-175 in 39 overs. 

Siraj started the game with a wicket on the second delivery, Suthar dismissed Chandimal on his first ball of the game. The top order struggled to make any impact for Sri Lanka, and if not for Dinusha and Dickwella in the first innings, the team would not have been able to erase even the follow-up deficit. The visitors started positively in the second innings with a plan to amass as many runs as possible and give their bowlers enough time to take 10 Sri Lankan wickets in the second innings. Rishabh Pant turned up with a 69-ball 66 becoming the only Indian cricketer and fastest overall to hit 100 sixes in Test cricket. Even though there was some criticism of the way they continued to bat the till the fall of their final cricket due to the cloudy weather, Gill and Co knew they had enough time to force a result and take the lead in the series.

Suthar's flair was exorbitant for the hosts and barring another effort from Dinusha, they lost wickets in clumps. The under-achieving Krishna came to the party bowling a produtive spell of 2-16 in 10 overs. The extra bounce generated by Krishna's height, troubled both Mendis and Dickwella as both edged the short ball behind the wicket. Indian batters give no extra chances pressuring the bowlers to earn their dismissals. Fielders hardly missed a chance and their bowling line-up was a menace. The 165-run success and 12 WTC points keeps them in the hunt for the final two positions. The only improvement India can jot down from this game is their use of DRS in the field. They will now hope For a similar result at the SSC to round up a perfect tour of Sri Lanka ahead of their next series in New Zealand.

References: Statsguru by ESPNCricinfo