Galle: Ravichandran Ashwin (3/66) and Ravindra Jadeja (3/71) spun a web around the Sri Lankan batsmen at the Galle International Stadium here Saturday as India crushed the injury-ravaged hosts by 304 runs to go 1-0 up in the three-Test series.
The hosts required 550 in the fourth innings to conjure up an improbable victory, but could manage only 245 when the innings was declared closed as skipper Rangana Herath and Asela Gunaratne could not bat due to injuries. India had earlier declared their innings closed at 240 for three with skipper Virat Kohli (overnight 76 batting) duly getting his 17th Test hundred. When India declared Kohli was 103 n o (136b, 5×4, 1×6), with Ajinkya Rahane (23 n o) giving him company.
This was India’s biggest overseas win (in terms of runs) surpassing the 279 run-victory against England at Leeds in 1986. For Sri Lanka, it was their biggest defeat (in terms of runs), surpassing their 301-run loss against Pakistan in 1994.
The Sri Lankans, especially their opener Dimuth Karunaratne (97, 208b, 9×4) batted gutsily for the first two sessions to reach 192 for 4 at tea. However once Karunaratne was bowled off the inside edge trying to sweep Ashwin, the innings fizzled to a quick close.
After the tea break, India made short work of proceedings. The breakthrough was achieved in the fifth over after the break. Niroshan Dickwella (67) top-edged off Ashwin for Wriddhiman Saha to hold on to an easy catch behind the stumps.
Dilruwan Perera (21 n o) added 23 runs for the sixth wicket with Karunaratne. After the latter’s dismissal, Kohli took a great catch at leg slip and accounted for Nuwan Pradeep (0) as well. The end came swiftly when Lahiru Kumara (0) skied off Ravindra Jadeja with Mohammed Shami taking an easy catch at mid-off. Umesh Yadav (1/42) and Shami (1/43) took a wicket apiece at the start of the innings.
In the post-lunch session, Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis (36) defied the Indian bowlers for a length period. However, Mendis after a patient innings was caught behind off Jadeja with the DRS going in India’s favour. It became a double blow soon after as Angelo Mathews (2) was caught going for a wild slog at backward point off Jadeja again.
In the morning, starting from overnight 189/3, Kohli and Rahane showed an eagerness to score runs. It was obvious that the visitors were waiting for the captain to get to his landmark before putting Lanka into bat again. And to his credit Kohli didn’t waste any time as he reached his hundred off 133.
Kohli in the process became the quickest to the 17 hundreds landmark among Indian batters. He did so in 58 Tests while Dilip Vengsarkar and VVS Laxman took 116 and 134 Tests respectively to reach the same landmark.
Kohli lauds mates for clinical display
Popular perceptions do not perturb him, which is the reason why India skipper Virat Kohli does not believe in counting the number of innings in which he had a dry run. Kohli ended his bad patch with his 17 Test hundred here Saturday.
“I don’t look at things from people’s point of view. I think people on the outside start counting the number of innings when a batsman doesn’t score well. But for us as batsmen or anyone playing in the XI, it’s about what the team want in that particular situation,” said Kohli at the post match press conference here.
“I think the second innings required us to play a bit more positively and I am glad I was able to do that along with Abhinav Mukund. It helped to get us enough time to get the opposition out and put enough runs on the board for us to feel comfortable,” he added.
Kohli felt that though his team came up with a ‘clinical performance’ in the first Test there was still room for improvement.
“Yes, we would like to think we ticked all the boxes with this win. There are still some areas that we can look back and try to improve on. Especially when you get 4-5 wickets, we need to not let the lower order get away with a few runs in the latter half of the innings,” he said.
“Otherwise, I would say that we had a pretty good game. As I mentioned we always look for things that we can still improve on, but very happy with the first game,” added the Indian skipper.
Meanwhile off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said he never plays the game with records in mind and for him country’s interest always supersedes his personal goals.
In less than six years since making his debut, Ashwin has become the fastest to claim 250 Test wickets, and now needs just 25 more scalps in his next six Tests to become the fastest to reach the 300-wicket mark. However, he was quick to add that numbers hardly hold any significance for him.
“For me it’s always teams first. Since my childhood days when I dreamt of playing for India I had one goal and that is to take Indian cricket to greater heights,” Ashwin said at the end of the first Test against Sri Lanka here.
“I don’t have any specific goals at all. I don’t have any numbers in front of my eyes to achieve. I just want to give my best for the country and in the process I know I can achieve something for myself as well,” he added.
