NewDelhi: Sri Lanka’s inspiring comeback on Day 4 was crumbled down by spin duo Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as Team India won the second Test by an innings and 53 runs to take an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the series, at Colombo, today. ( SL vs IND, 2nd Test: As it happened || Full Coverage )
Sri Lanka resumed Day 4 of the second Test, at the SSC Ground with overnight batsmen Dimuth Karunaratne and Malinda Pushpakumara. A couple of early boundaries, a couple of dropped catches and Karunaratne (141) notched up his sixth Test ton. He definitely held the key for the Lankans.
Pushpakumara (16) soon departed playing an almost bizarre shot to an Ashwin delivery and then Karunaratne combined with Angelo Mathews (36) to stitch a 69-run stand for fifth wicket. With that Sri Lanka raced past the 300-run mark. Until then the hosts were playing the best game of the series.
But all of a sudden things turned sour, once again for Dinesh Chandimal-led side. Jadeja struck once and again and then again as Sri Lanka squandered down to 321 for seven just within 10 overs. First it was Karunaratne, then Mathews and finally Dilruwan Perera (4). The left-arm spinner returned to claim his ninth five-wicket haul in Test cricket as Sri Lanka witnessed the last six batsmen going down for mere 76 runs.
India’s win was indeed evident, especially after the big follow-on enforced on them. But Sri Lankan batsmen Kusal Mendis, Karunaratne and Mathews, did bring some hope to their side. With the win at Colombo, India have now wrapped up the series with a 2-0 lead and one match yet to go. This was their third series win in Sri Lanka, with the two earlier being back in 1993 and 2015. India also became the first visiting team to win three consecutive Test matches at the SSC ground, Colombo.
Adding to it, Virat Kohli-led side registered their eighth consecutive Test victories, standing one behind England’s record of nine, recorded back in 1884 to 1892 and also the Australian team, back in the period between 2005 and 2008. Virat as a captain has now edged past Aussie legend Steve Waugh with most consecutive Test series win by a captain. He is, however, one behind Ricky Ponting.
Kohli also became the first Indian captain to win two Test series in Sri Lanka.
Going by overall stats, out of 28 Test matches that India played under Virat’s captaincy, the Men in Blue gathered 18 victories, lost three and drew six. He is four wins short of Sourav Ganguly’s record of 21 victories and still six short of MS Dhoni’s 27
Bureau Report
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