Sri Lanka recovered from their disastrous first innings debacle to put up a heroic batting display in the second innings but couldn’t prevent India from winning the second Test by an innings and 53 runs at the SSC grounds yesterday and taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. It was India’s first victory by an innings in Sri Lanka.
The win was India’s eighth consecutive Test series victory under the captaincy of Virat Kohli since he took over the reins from MS Dhoni in 2015 and it confirmed India’s status as the number ranked Test team in the world.
For a larger part of the fourth day it seemed with Dimuth Karunaratne firmly anchoring the innings from one end and playing so resolutely that Sri Lanka would be able to stretch India into the fifth day by avoiding an innings defeat.
Sri Lanka who resumed yesterday at 209-2 went to lunch at 302-4 with Karunaratne having carried his overnight score from 92 to 136 completing his sixth Test hundred (fourth in the second innings) off 224 balls with 13 fours and, former captain Angelo Mathews unbeaten on 28.
Karunaratne who was dismissed for 97 in the first Test at Galle nearly bungled it this time again when at 95 he was put down by Lokesh Rahul at forward short leg off Ravindra Jadeja who was getting more bite and turn with his left-arm deliveries than his spin partner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Having rode his luck Karunaratne continued to thwart the Indian bowling thus raising Sri Lankan hopes although it was a tall order to save the Test.
However in the first session after lunch all hopes of saving the Test vanished as Jadeja sent back Karunaratne, Mathews and Dilruwan Perera off successive overs with ripping deliveries to ensure another four-day finish to the Test as Sri Lanka slipped from a promising 302-4 to 321-7 in 51 balls and were finally all out for 386 on the stroke of tea.
It was not so much the ball bowled by Jadeja that resulted in Karunaratne’s dismissal after a marathon 377-minute stint but the state of the pitch that saw the ball pitch and rip through to take his glove and land safely in the hands of the fielder at slip.
It was an unkind end to an innings of great quality and how much the opposition admired that knock can be gauged by the fact that most of India’s close-in fielders ran over to shake his hand including his partner Mathews at the other end.
Karunaratne who was dismissed for 141 has two of the three-highest scores by a Sri Lankan batsman while following-on. He scored 152 against New Zealand at Christchurch in 2014 and the other innings was from the present Sri Lanka cricket manager and selector Asanka Gurusinha who scored 143 against Australia at Melbourne in 1995.
With five wickets in the innings – his ninth overall and first against Sri Lanka and an unbeaten 70 Jadeja won the Man of the Match award.
Sri Lanka may have lost the Test but they can take a lot of heart from the resolute batting of Karunaratne and the exciting knock by Kusal Mendis on a turning pitch. Niroshan Dickwella and Rangana Herath with a series of sweeps and reverse-sweeps only delayed the inevitable before Pandya and Ashwin completed the win. The third and final Test commences at Pallekele on August 12.
Indian captain Virat Kohli has his arm around bowler Ravindra Jadeja who took five wickets in the
Sri Lanka second innings and won the man of the match award. - AFP
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