NAGPUR: India had batted Sri Lanka out of the Nagpur Test with three of their batsmen scoring centuries but Sri Lanka were expected to give a sterner challenge to India than they did on the fourth day of the second Test. They crumbled and lost seven wickets in the first session, staring at their biggest defeat in Test cricket. That humiliation was completed when R Ashwin took his 300th Test wicket and Sri Lanka’s last of the second innings to complete India’s joint biggest Test win by an innings and 239 runs on Monday.
India are yet to lose a Test series under Virat Kohli and they would like to continue this trend in South Africa, the first of many overseas tour for India next year. With India’s top two seamers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami rested, this performance against a spineless Sri Lankan batting was still morale boosting.
For Sri Lanka this was their biggest Test defeat and it came in an embarrassing manner with their batsmen throwing away wickets. Beginning the play with 384 runs behind India, Sri Lanka needed to bat out of their skin to save the match but India bowlers were in no mood to return on day five. Sri Lanka gave up early in first session as India enjoyed a good day in office.
Ashwin became the fastest bowler to claim 300 wickets as he achieved the feat in just his 54th Test, bettering Dennis Lillee’s record of 56 Tests. After Umesh Yadavand Ravindra Jadeja rocked Sri Lanka with two wickets each, Ashwin wrapped up the tail, taking the last four wicket, the final of which — his 300th — was off a carrom ball that turned the other side and Lahiru Gamage was perplexed by it before losing his stumps.
By the time the first session ended, India were on verge of the win and the only thing Sri Lanka could have done was to avoid their biggest loss in Test cricket which was an innings and 229 runs before Monday.
The visitors had more-or-less lost the game on the first day itself after being bowled out for 208 as Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja caught them in a spin web. The same happened on day four as Jadeja began with the wicket of Dimuth Karunaratne to a freakish catch at short leg by Murali Vijay.
Lahiru Thirimanne was the next to fall as he played a wide delivery from Umesh straight to point and then Sri Lanka’s most experienced batsman Angelo Mathews fell for the flight from Jadeja, lobbing it to mid-off.
Dasun Shanaka tried some big shots and connected a few but one such shot, off Ashwin, was skied and KL Rahul took a good catch. That was the beginning to Ashwin’s mastery on day four. He removed Dilruwan Perera and Rangana Herath in the space of three balls and with just two more wickets to go, play was extended by 15 minutes before Lunch.
But Sri Lanka went into the break 260 runs behind with two wickets in hand. India had bowled well throughout and were now being rewarded for it. Ishant Sharma set up the dismissal of Niroshan Dickwella. He bowled short-pitched deliveries and got reverse-swing to confuse the batsmen before bowling a suprise length delivery. Dickwella edged one such delivery to slips.
