Having bowled India out for 193 in the second innings, Sri Lanka were set a massive target of 372 to win the first Test. The top order fell cheaply once again as the hosts slipped to 84 for 4, leaving them needing 288 more runs to win on the fifth and final day in Galle.
Day four began with India’s second innings, with Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul walking out as the regular openers. Asitha Fernando provided the perfect start for the hosts with just the third ball of the day. Jaiswal chased a good-length delivery outside off and edged a bottom edge through to the keeper, walking back for a duck. Devdutt Padikkal, the first-innings centurion, joined Rahul and helped steady the innings with a 65-run partnership. Prabath Jayasuriya broke the stand, first dismissing Rahul before removing captain Shubman Gill.
>>Dinusha maiden hundred, Dickwella rescue Sri Lanka, but India take 178-run lead
Rahul fell for 35 after attempting to clear mid-on, only to miscue the shot towards deep mid-off. Gill was once again dismissed LBW by Jayasuriya, having fallen to the same bowler in the first innings. Padikkal’s promising start was cut short soon after, with Keshara Nuwantha trapping him in front for 44. India went to lunch at 116 for 4.
In the second over after the break, an excellent review from Sri Lanka resulted in another wicket, with Dhruv Jurel caught behind off Fernando’s short delivery down the leg side. India had now lost half their side for 120. With wickets falling regularly, Rishabh Pant went after the Lankan bowlers in his trademark fashion. The Indian wicketkeeper-batter struck 43 off 44 balls during a 54-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja. In the process, Pant brought up his 20th Test fifty and hit his 100th six in the format, becoming only the fourth batter and the fastest to reach the milestone.
>>Nuwantha, Jayasuriya lead Sri Lanka fightback as India lose seven wickets on rain-hit Day 2
The short-ball tactic continued to cost Sri Lanka runs, but Lahiru Kumara eventually got the reward, dismissing both Pant and Jadeja with the same approach. Pasindu Sooriyabandara, who was fielding as a substitute for Dinesh Chandimal, produced a brilliant diving catch to dismiss Jadeja. India lost their final five wickets for just 19 runs, bowled out for 193. Fernando and Kumara bowled with plenty of aggression in the second session, repeatedly testing the batters with the short ball. Fernando finished with impressive figures of 4 for 31, while Jayasuriya took 3 for 43.
Chasing a massive target, Nishan Madushka and Lahiru Udara opened the innings for Sri Lanka. Madushka once again fell to Mohammed Siraj, edging behind with only 13 runs on the board. Chandimal had earlier left the field after hitting his shoulder and head hard on the ground, with Sooriyabandara coming in as his concussion substitute and making his Test debut. However, he departed for a golden duck after an LBW appeal was initially turned down, before India successfully reviewed the decision. Sri Lanka slipped to 21 for 3 as Kamindu Mendis fell to Prasidh Krishna, leaving the hosts in further trouble.
>>Padikkal maiden ton headlines India’s dominant opening day in Galle
Udara was then dismissed in controversial fashion after Dhruv Jurel held onto a low catch at gully off Manav Suthar. The initial replays raised questions over whether Jurel’s fingers were underneath the ball, but the third umpire was satisfied that the catch was clean and gave the batter out, leaving Sri Lanka reeling at 47 for 4.
Dhananjaya de Silva and Sonal Dinusha then showed grit under pressure, sharing an unbeaten 37-run stand to see Sri Lanka through to stumps. The hosts will need another 288 runs on the final day to pull off a record run chase in Galle.
Brief Scores:
India 462 (116.4) Devdutt Padikkal 167, KL Rahul 82, Dhruv Jurel 51, Prabath Jayasuriya 4/109, Keshara Nuwantha 3/175, Asitha Fernando 2/63 & 193 (48.5) Rishabh Pant 66, Devdutt Padikkal 44, KL Rahul 35, Asitha Fernando 4/31, Prabath Jayasuriya 3/43, Lahiru Kumara 2/28
Sri Lanka 284 (79.4) Sonal Dinusha 100, Niroshan Dickwella 80, Manav Suthar 4/76, Ravindra Jadeja 3/57 & 84/4 (34) Dhananjaya de Silva 31*, Sonal Dinusha 25*, Manav Suthar 2/30
Stumps – Day 4, Sri Lanka need 288 runs to win.
Stumps
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | run out (Prabath Jayasuriya) | 32 | 37 | 5 | 0 | 86.49 |
| KL Rahul | c Nishan Fernando b Keshara Nuwantha | 82 | 175 | 10 | 1 | 46.86 |
| Devdutt Padikkal | st Dickwella b Prabath Jayasuriya | 167 | 230 | 15 | 1 | 72.61 |
| Shubman Gill | c Lahiru Igalagamage b Prabath Jayasuriya | 16 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 57.14 |
| Rishabh Pant | c Sonal Dinusha b Keshara Nuwantha | 39 | 62 | 4 | 1 | 62.90 |
| Dhruv Jurel | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Prabath Jayasuriya | 51 | 68 | 4 | 1 | 75.00 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | lbw b Keshara Nuwantha | 13 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 52.00 |
| Manav Suthar | c Lahiru Igalagamage b Prabath Jayasuriya | 24 | 43 | 2 | 0 | 55.81 |
| Mohammed Siraj | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Asitha Fernando | 11 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 73.33 |
| Kuldeep Yadav | not out | 13 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 92.86 |
| Prasidh krishna | c Niroshan Dickwella b Asitha Fernando | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 |
| Extras | 12 (b 4 , lb 3 , nb 4, w 1, pen 0) |
| Total | 462/10 (116.4 Overs, RR: 3.96) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asitha Fernando | 17.4 | 1 | 63 | 2 | 3.62 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 13 | 1 | 76 | 0 | 5.85 | |
| Keshara Nuwantha | 39 | 1 | 175 | 3 | 4.49 | |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 39 | 6 | 109 | 4 | 2.79 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 4 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 3.75 | |
| Sonal Dinusha | 4 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 4.25 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nishan Fernando | c Devdutt Padikkal b Mohammed Siraj | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Lahiru Igalagamage | c Yashasvi Jaiswal b Manav Suthar | 27 | 44 | 6 | 0 | 61.36 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | c Rishab Pant b Manav Suthar | 4 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Kamindu Mendis | c Shubman Gill b Kuldeep Yadav | 14 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 56.00 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c KL Rahul b Ravindra Jadeja | 21 | 41 | 4 | 0 | 51.22 |
| Sonal Dinusha | lbw b Ravindra Jadeja | 100 | 168 | 4 | 2 | 59.52 |
| Niroshan Dickwella | c Rishab Pant b Prasidh krishna | 80 | 115 | 7 | 0 | 69.57 |
| Keshara Nuwantha | c Shubman Gill b Ravindra Jadeja | 2 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 11.11 |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | c Dhruv Jurel b Manav Suthar | 10 | 43 | 2 | 0 | 23.26 |
| Lahiru Kumara | st Rishab Pant b Manav Suthar | 10 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 200.00 |
| Asitha Fernando | not out | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 16 (b 8 , lb 2 , nb 4, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 284/10 (79.4 Overs, RR: 3.56) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammed Siraj | 9 | 3 | 29 | 1 | 3.22 | |
| Prasidh krishna | 14 | 0 | 47 | 1 | 3.36 | |
| Manav Suthar | 21.4 | 1 | 76 | 4 | 3.55 | |
| Kuldeep Yadav | 14 | 0 | 65 | 1 | 4.64 | |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 21 | 5 | 57 | 3 | 2.71 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | c Niroshan Dickwella b Asitha Fernando | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| KL Rahul | c Milan Rathnayake b Prabath Jayasuriya | 35 | 47 | 2 | 2 | 74.47 |
| Devdutt Padikkal | lbw b Keshara Nuwantha | 44 | 75 | 6 | 0 | 58.67 |
| Shubman Gill | lbw b Prabath Jayasuriya | 8 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Rishab Pant | c Niroshan Dickwella b Lahiru Kumara | 66 | 69 | 8 | 2 | 95.65 |
| Dhruv Jurel | c Niroshan Dickwella b Asitha Fernando | 7 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 46.67 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | c sooriya bandara b Lahiru Kumara | 8 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 42.11 |
| Manav Suthar | c Niroshan Dickwella b Asitha Fernando | 9 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 36.00 |
| Kuldeep Yadav | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Prabath Jayasuriya | 5 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Mohammed Siraj | not out | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Prasidh krishna | c Lahiru Kumara b Asitha Fernando | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 |
| Extras | 7 (b 1 , lb 1 , nb 3, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 193/10 (48.5 Overs, RR: 3.95) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asitha Fernando | 8.5 | 0 | 31 | 4 | 3.65 | |
| Keshara Nuwantha | 23 | 3 | 86 | 1 | 3.74 | |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 11 | 0 | 43 | 3 | 3.91 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4.00 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 5 | 0 | 27 | 2 | 5.40 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nishan Madushka | c Prasidh krishna b Mohammed Siraj | 6 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 22.22 |
| Lahiru Igalagamage | c Dhruv Jurel b Manav Suthar | 16 | 58 | 1 | 0 | 27.59 |
| sooriya bandara | lbw b Manav Suthar | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Kamindu Mendis | c KL Rahul b Prasidh krishna | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 16.67 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | not out | 31 | 73 | 3 | 0 | 42.47 |
| Sonal Dinusha | not out | 25 | 36 | 4 | 0 | 69.44 |
| Extras | 4 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 3, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 84/4 (34 Overs, RR: 2.47) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammed Siraj | 5 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 2.20 | |
| Manav Suthar | 11 | 0 | 30 | 2 | 2.73 | |
| Prasidh krishna | 8 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 1.38 | |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 6 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 2.67 | |
| Kuldeep Yadav | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2.67 | |
| Devdutt Padikkal | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5.00 | |
