- Five day match folded up in three days
- Sri Lankan captain Karnaratne’s ton in vain
What should have gone on for five days has ended in three days with the hosts winning the Test series. Chasing 447 runs for victory, Sri Lanka team was bundled out for 208 in their second innings conceding a win by 238 runs. Sri Lankan skipper Dimuth Karunaratne scored a valiant 107 on a hostile pitch.
Jasprit Bumrah was the bowler who caused Sri Lanka devastation. With this win India bagged the three-test series 2-0. It was Bumrah who ended Karunaratne’s innings. While Ravichandran Ashwin took four wickets on day three, Bumrah bagged eight wickets in the match. Shreyas Iyer and Rishab Pant scored 67 and 50 respectively in what has become a habit for the middle order to shine while to top order goes to pavilion early. At the end of the second day India declared its second innings at 303 for 9. In the first innings the Indian star was Shreyas Iyer who scored 92 taking the team with him from the vulnerable condition of 86 for four wickets. Sri Lanka was dismissed in the first innings for 109 with Bumrah returning with 5 for 24, his maiden five-wicket haul at home.
India also finished the first test in three days. Rohit Sharma is the happiest cricketer as he won his first Test series as captain. After Ashwin got Kusal Mendis, captain Karunaratne’s partner in second wicket stand of 97 runs, the captain continued his battle till he made his ton. Mendis scored his 12th Test half-century. Karunratne’s was the only century by a Sri Lankan batter in this series. The records of Kapil Dev have been broken by Ashwin as well as wicket keeper Rishabh Pant. Soon after surpassing Kapil Dev’s tally of wickets, Ravichandran Ashwin had beaten Dale Steyn and rose to the eighth spot in the all-time highest wicket –takers list in Test cricket. Sri Lankan all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva was Ashwin’s 440th victim. The list is led by legendary Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttaiah Maralitharan who took 800 wickets. He is followed by Shane Warne who retired with 709 wickets. Australian spinner Shane Warne died of heart attack recently.
