IND vs SL 1st Test: Perseverance pays as Manav shines on near-flat track

India players after wining the Galle Test vs SL on Wednesday. Pic/BCCI

[popcorn number="10" desc="No. of wins for India in Sri Lanka - the joint-second most for them in away countries, including in Australia and WI, besides one more in England (11)" class="Default"]

Manav Suthar has taken a definite shine to Test cricket. Having started his career with 6-33 in his first bowl, against Afghanistan in New Chandigarh in June, the left-arm spinner reprised that effort with 6-55 here on Wednesday, bowling India to a commanding 165-run victory over Sri Lanka on the final day of the first Test.

Sri Lanka offered two distinct pockets of resistance with the vastly impressive Sonal Dinusha as the common factor during stands of 95 for the fifth wicket with skipper Dhananjaya de Silva and 43 for the seventh with debutant Keshara Nuwantha respectively. But a target of 372 was always going to be well beyond them, and their resistance ended some 39 minutes after lunch at 206 with Suthar snaffling four for six from his last 10 deliveries.

The left-arm spinner had fallen into a terrific rhythm right from the start, mindful that a softening ball and a reasonably flat track weren't necessarily his allies, and found bountiful reward for his perseverance at the end. India, though, owed their success to the power of the collective with Ravindra Jadeja bringing his experience into play, and pace merchants Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna keeping up the heat.

Resuming on 84-4, De Silva and Dinusha eased to their respective half-centuries, denying India the early strike that could have catalysed a quick finish. For 85 largely untroubled minutes, they offered a broad blade in defence that was occasionally swapped for a scything willow when they found width, until Jadeja used a change of ends smartly to elicit a false sweep from De Silva that picked out short fine-leg.

Niroshan Dickwella lost concentration after a verbal exchange with Yashasvi Jaiswal, playing a terrible waft-cut, backing away, to Prasidh and only managing a feather to Rishabh Pant. These two wickets in quick succession with lunch imminent exploded any Lankan hopes of salvaging a draw, even though Dinusha and Nuwantha didn't make things easy for the visitors.

Just as Shubman Gill was eyeing the second new ball which would have been a lot harder proposition, pun intended, to deal with, Suthar came to the party. Dinusha's first false stroke proved to be his last as he was caught at leg slip off inside-edge and pad, after which Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Kumara, and Nuwantha fell in the bat of an eyelid.

Brief scores
India 462 & 193 beat SL 284 & 206 (S Dinusha 84, D de Silva 59; M Suthar 6-55, P Krishna 2-16) by 165 runs