On a day when India’s left-arm spinners, promising youngster Manav Suthar (4-76 in 21.4 overs) and Ravindra Jadeja (3-57 in 21 overs), combined beautifully to share seven wickets, Sri Lanka, refusing to throw in the towel after stumbling badly, discovered men of steel in their ranks.
All over Sri Lanka like a rash in the first session of the first Test at the Galle International Cricket Stadium, India reduced the hosts to 99 for five, courtesy of Suthar’s superb double strike. But the bowlers then encountered an unexpected obstacle in two Ds, both left-handers. Playing just his fourth Test, 25-year-old Sonal Dinusha slammed his maiden Test hundred (100, 168b, 4×4, 2×6), while 33-year-old Niroshan Dickwella, making his Test comeback after three-and-a-half years amid a local furore over his recall, scored 80 (115b, 7×4). The pair scripted an incredible fightback with a gallant 146-run partnership off 216 balls for the sixth wicket, helping Sri Lanka avoid the follow-on and salvage some pride.
India eventually bounced back in the final session, with Suthar and Jadeja claiming the last five wickets for 69 runs to bowl Sri Lanka out for 284 and secure a sizeable 178-run lead. Factoring in the wet weather, the visitors will need to score at a fair clip on Day Four and set Sri Lanka a target of around 400, when India’s spinners could be even more dangerous.
Staring at a follow-on, Sri Lanka were rescued by the resilient ‘D&D’ pair, who carried their side to 215 for five at tea, adding 116 runs in the middle session without losing a wicket. Unlike their top-order colleagues, Dickwella and Dinusha looked unflustered and used the sweep effectively to nullify India’s spinners. They also handled Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna well.
Walking in with Sri Lanka in crisis at 59 for four, Dinusha, who has scored 11 first-class hundreds and averages 45.09, showed that he could be a valuable No. 6 batter in the future. The southpaw displayed admirable composure and grit under pressure before being trapped lbw by Jadeja after playing all around a sharply turning delivery.
Making his Test comeback after last playing against New Zealand in Christchurch in March 2023, Dickwella reached his 23rd fifty — his first since 2022 — off 67 balls. Dinusha, eight years his junior, took 92 balls to reach his half-century but looked the more assured of the two. Using the slog-sweep effectively, he hit both Suthar and Jadeja for sixes in the 58th over. Dickwella was also given a life on 23 when KL Rahul grassed a sharp chance after the left-hander edged a cut off Suthar in the 36th over.
Suthar struck with his very first ball of the series, producing a beauty that turned and bounced sharply to take the edge of Dinesh Chandimal’s bat before wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant completed the catch.
Looking dangerous with every delivery, Suthar struck again when Sri Lankan opener Udara Igalagamage (27, 44b, 6×4), who had pulled and cut a couple of boundaries, was caught by Yashasvi Jaiswal at backward point while attempting another cut. Udara had slammed 188 in his previous Test against the West Indies at North Sound in July.
Introduced in the eighth over, Suthar led the initial charge as India’s spinners extracted vicious grip, turn and bounce from the surface. Sri Lanka’s top order also badly missed classy opener Pathum Nissanka, who is sidelined with injury.
India produced a moment of brilliance in the field as well. Diving at short cover and plucking the ball inches off the ground, captain Shubman Gill pulled off a stunning catch at extra cover — potentially the catch of the series — to dismiss Mendis for 14 (25b, 1×4). Mendis had earlier pulled Prasidh Krishna for six but top-edged an aerial drive after charging down the track against Kuldeep Yadav. After a blistering start to his Test career, Mendis has struggled for runs in recent times.
Jadeja then joined the party, claiming his 350th Test wicket when he dismissed debutant Keshara Nuwantha. He had earlier accounted for Sri Lankan captain Dhananjaya de Silva (21, 41b, 4×4). Jadeja is now fifth on India’s all-time Test wicket-takers’ list, behind Anil Kumble (619), Ravichandran Ashwin (537), Kapil Dev (434) and Harbhajan Singh (417).
