India thrash Lanka by 304 runs
Ravichandran
Ashwin (L) took four wickets including three in the second innings to
seal an easy 304-run win for India against Sri Lanka on the fourth day
of the opening Test at Galle today. The off-spinner, with already 279
wickets in 50 Test under his belt, is all set to dethrone Australia’s
legendary fast bowler Dennis Lillee as the fastest to 300 wickets.
Lillee reached that landmark in 56 Tests. Photo: AFP
Virat Kohli's India thrash Sri Lanka by 304 runs to claim the first Test in their three-match series.
After hitting an unbeaten 103, Kohli declared on 240-3, setting Sri Lanka a near-impossible target of 550 to win in Galle. The home side made 245 with Dimuth Karunaratne making 97. India scored a whopping 600 in their first innings before bowling out Sri Lanka for 291.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets each to fashion India’s biggest runs margin victory in Sri Lanka - halfway through the final session of Day Four. With finger injuries leaving Rangana Herath and Asela Gunaratne unavailable to bat, India only needed to take eight second-innings wickets. They completed the task in 76.5 overs, with Dimuth Karunaratne and Niroshan Dickwella proving their only real roadblocks.
Karunaratne enhanced his reputation as a specialist in the second innings - where he now averages 42.14 as against 27.32 in the first - with 97, while Dickwella contributed a skittish 67 to a fifth-wicket stand of 101.
Otherwise, India didn't have to work too hard for wickets on a firmer-than-usual Galle pitch that offered consistent bounce and only occasionally sharp turn, after setting Sri Lanka the task of surviving the best part of two full days or chasing an improbable 550.
The fifth-wicket partnership looked unlikely to last too long when it began, with Dickwella playing a series of risky shots - sweeps off the stumps, inside-out drives, dabs with an open face - while new to the crease. But he survived and eventually settled, and Sri Lanka could breathe a little easier, particularly with Karunaratne looking calm and secure at the other end, taking the singles afforded him by Virat Kohli's puzzlingly defensive fields and picking up the odd boundary with the square-cut or flick.
After hitting an unbeaten 103, Kohli declared on 240-3, setting Sri Lanka a near-impossible target of 550 to win in Galle. The home side made 245 with Dimuth Karunaratne making 97. India scored a whopping 600 in their first innings before bowling out Sri Lanka for 291.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets each to fashion India’s biggest runs margin victory in Sri Lanka - halfway through the final session of Day Four. With finger injuries leaving Rangana Herath and Asela Gunaratne unavailable to bat, India only needed to take eight second-innings wickets. They completed the task in 76.5 overs, with Dimuth Karunaratne and Niroshan Dickwella proving their only real roadblocks.
Karunaratne enhanced his reputation as a specialist in the second innings - where he now averages 42.14 as against 27.32 in the first - with 97, while Dickwella contributed a skittish 67 to a fifth-wicket stand of 101.
Otherwise, India didn't have to work too hard for wickets on a firmer-than-usual Galle pitch that offered consistent bounce and only occasionally sharp turn, after setting Sri Lanka the task of surviving the best part of two full days or chasing an improbable 550.
The fifth-wicket partnership looked unlikely to last too long when it began, with Dickwella playing a series of risky shots - sweeps off the stumps, inside-out drives, dabs with an open face - while new to the crease. But he survived and eventually settled, and Sri Lanka could breathe a little easier, particularly with Karunaratne looking calm and secure at the other end, taking the singles afforded him by Virat Kohli's puzzlingly defensive fields and picking up the odd boundary with the square-cut or flick.
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