Sri Lanka’s Sonal Dinusha did a fantastic 100 off the first day of the first Test in Galle but India was in command thereafter. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 284 in the first innings, giving India the lead of 178 runs.
Dinusha was the primary reason for Sri Lanka to not get into a difficult situation after being bowled to 90/5. The left-hander teamed with Niroshan Dickwella to form a vital 146-run sixth-wicket stand, helping India’s spinners to keep them on guard for a while.
India did find the way and eventually emerged with a level of dominance.
Suthar and Jadeja took the control of the Indian cricket team in their hands.
India had to make just two runs to seal their first side’s advantage to 460/9. Asitha Fernando bowled out Prasidh Krishna to conclude the innings at 462.
The bowlers’ attack from India had to be faced by Sri Lanka’s best order. Mohammed Siraj was the first to strike with his own bat while Manav Suthar made an instant impression on the field after being bowled into the attack.
Dinesh Chandimal was Suthar’s first casualty as he picked him off first ball. He went on to dismiss Lahiru Udara before Shubman Gill came up with a superb one-handed catch to allow Suthar to remove Kamindu Mendis.
The game progressed when Ravindra Jadeja then took over Dhananjaya de Silva, leaving Sri Lanka four down with 90 runs left in the run-up.
This is when Dinusha and Dickwella turned the inning around.
Dinusha played in a patient way, whereas Dickwella hit the Indians with speedy boundaries and got to 50 early. At some stage in their relationship, they hit 100 runs together, and Sri Lanka found itself a great platform.
Dickwella went on to score a wicket in 80 before Prasidh Krishna finally got his turn. Dinusha persisted in the innings to hit his first Test century before India finished the match.
Suthar posted superb numbers of 4/76 and Jadeja 3/57.
On the same day, it was also a big achievement for Jadeja as he became the fifth Indian bowler in the history of cricket to achieve 350 wickets in Test cricket.