It was a given that Sri Lanka were not going to last the distance. But nobody thought it was going to be such a meek surrender inside three days. The rampaging Indians just did not give the rivals any chance to put up a fight on a pitch that gave enough assistance to the spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. The two Ravis ran though the batting twice and made the match memorable for themselves by achieving personal landmarks on way to helping India register a huge win — by an innings and 222 runs — to go one-up in the two-match Test series.
Spineless batting by Sri Lanka
This Sri Lankan team are not even a pale shadow of their national team of a few years ago, when the likes of Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Mutthiah Muralitharan were a force to reckon with. Nobody expected the present team to be of that calibre, but at least they were expected to show some determination and will to put up a fight.
Taking advantage of the spineless batting by Sri Lanka, India picked up 16 wickets on the third day, with Jadeja becoming only the third India to score 150+ and pick up five wickets in an innings in a Test match. In all he had a nine-wicket match haul and fell short by a mere wicket to join the likes of Ian Botham, Imran Khan and Shakib al Hasan to score a century and pick up 10 wickets in a Test match. However, his unbeaten 175 and match figures of 9 for 87 made him a deserving man of the match, which was his former skipper Virat Kohli’s 100th and Rohit Sharma’s first as captain.
Ashwin also made this it memorable as he became the second highest Indian wicket-taker in Test cricket, surpassing Kapil Dev’s 434. Ashwin now has 436, well behind Anil Kumble’s tally of 619. Deservingly he took the final wicket of the match although that denied his spin partner Jadeja a chance to complete his 10.
Right tonic for India
If the Sri Lankans fell like nine pins, the Indian team were not complaining. After losing the Test series in South Africa, this is the type of tonic the side needed under new captain Rohit, who was mighty pleased to begin his stint on a winning note. The captain said: “I never thought it was going to be the kind of a Test that gets over in three days. It was a good batting wicket with help for spinners and seamers. Credit to our bowlers who bowled in tandem and applied pressure. We knew it is a fast outfield and runs would be easier to come if you dig in. We were just waiting for an odd one to bounce differently and their batters to make mistakes. These are good signs for Indian cricket, a lot of performances and a landmark Test for Virat.”
Brief scores
India 574-8 decl beat Sri Lanka 174 all out (P Nissanka 61 not out; R Jadeja 5-41) and 178 all out (D de Silva 30, N Dickwella 51 not out; R Ashwin 4-47, R Jadeja 4-46) by an innings and 222 runs
