Sri Lanka will take on India in a 3 match Test series at home starting on the 26th of July, and we take a look at some of Sri Lanka’s most memorable Test knocks against their arch-rivals.
Dinesh Chandimal 162*(169) at Galle, August 2015
When Dinesh Chandimal walked in to bat on the third morning of the Test match, Sri Lanka needed exactly a 100 runs to avoid an innings defeat with only six second innings wickets remaining. Angelo Mathews was dismissed with the addition of just three runs to the score but Chandimal found a reliable partner in Lahiru Thirimanne as the duo erased the deficit and went into the lead before Thirimanne was dismissed. Sri Lanka were effectively 28/6 when Jehan Mubarak joined Chandimal, who rode his luck in a counter attacking innings that gave Sri Lanka hope as he put on 82 runs for the seventh wicket with Mubarak who was unfortunate to miss out on a half century.
Most pundits expected the game to end on day three with an innings win for India but when stumps were drawn, they were one wicket down already and had a stiff target of 176 on a raging turner come day four. Chandimal eventually remained unbeaten on 162* off just 169 balls, hitting the Indian bowlers to all parts of the Galle International Cricket Stadium, as he shepherded the tail to produce one of Sri Lanka’s best ever Test knocks. India crumbled to defeat on the fourth morning being bowled out for 112, succumbing to Rangana Herath’s master class of left arm spin bowling, as he backed up Chandimal’s good work with a seven wicket haul to earn one of Sri Lanka’s most memorable ‘come from behind’ victories.
Sanath Jayasuriya 340(578), Roshan Mahanama 225(561) at Colombo(RPS), August 1997
On the fifth and final morning, crowds were gathered at the R Premadasa Stadium to see the hosts go into the record books in Test cricket with plenty of records on the line. West Indian Brian Lara’s Test record of 375 -at the time- was under threat from another left-hander from Matara, Sanath Jayasuriya. Jayasuriya began the day on 326 and moved smoothly to 340 hitting three fours and picking up two singles. In total, he hit 36 fours and two sixes before an off-break from Rajesh Chauhan bounced a little more than he expected; he popped a simple catch to silly point to end his hopes of beating Lara and also breaking many hearts of the fans who were present at the stadium to witness the record. Jayasuriya was already involved in the record partnership in Test cricket for any wicket back then, as he had added 576 runs with Roshan Mahanama who also made a double century. Mahanama, as expected was playing second fiddle to Jayasuriya, but he showed plenty of character battling it out session by session hitting 27 fours on his way to his career best Test knock. He batted for 753 minutes before he was eventually trapped in front by Anil Kumble. The game eventually ended in a draw with only two out of four innings being completed.
Mahela Jayawardene 275(435), Prasanna Jayawardene 154*(314) at Ahmedabad, November 2009
Mahela Jayawardene had a liking to torment Indian bowling ever since his debut way back in 1997. He hit a half century in that game where Sri Lanka racked up 952/6 declared, the highest ever Test total to-date. This time around India had put up a total in excess of 400 on the board and the Sri Lankans had to hunt it down. They got a good start through T.M. Dilshan’s century and Mahela walked in with Sri Lanka on top at 189/2. Kumara Sangakkara fell right away but Mahela got into his groove soon and started to hit the gaps regularly and Sri Lanka raced on as Mahela reached his century in fairly quick time. The most fruitful partnership he was involved in came for the sixth wicket.
Prasanna Jayawardene hit an eye catching century while giving Mahela good company, as the duo put on 351 runs to put Sri Lanka in control. The Jayawardene’s were eventually separated when a wrong’un from Amit Mishra cleaned up Mahela, but he had done enough damage to help Sri Lanka gain a healthy first innings lead. Prasanna continued to show application. He showed great concentration and at no instance looked like throwing his wicket away. The feature of his career best Test innings was the boundary percentage which was only 38% and his unbeaten 154* helped Sri Lanka reach 760/7 declared. India had to dig deep but they held on firm as Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir hit centuries to salvage a draw.
Kumar Sangakkara 219(335) at Colombo(SSC), July 2010
It was a flat track at the Sinhalese Sports Club and the Sri Lankan batting legend Kumar Sangakkara made sure he didn’t miss out. He had to wait for a while to get out there after the openers put on 99 for opening wicket but peppered the Indian bowling from then on as Sri Lanka went pass the 300 run mark on the back of Sangakkara’s century on the opening day. He continued on day two from where he left off as Sri Lanka racked up 642/4 declared. He hit 29 fours in his 335 ball knock before part timer Virender Sehwag accounted for his dismissal for 219. India made a bold reply of 707 all out before Sri Lanka declared their second innings on 129/3 as the game concluded in a tame draw.
