5 best bowling spells by Indian bowlers against Sri Lanka
From an Indian perspective it had always been a treat to watch the bowlers perform well in front of Lankan batting giants like Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu and others. Both the teams had the best crop of batsmen for over two decades. So, getting the better of the opposition batsmen always meant something special.
Another grueling Test rivalry is about to begin between India and Sri Lanka in the Island nation. The fans will get to witness some more memorable bowling spells and hence will create more memories for a lifetime. Let us now go down the memory lane to recall some of the best Indian bowling performances against Sri Lanka over the years.
#1 Ravichandran Ashwin: 5/42, 2nd Test at Colombo, Aug 20-Aug 2015
India were 1-0 down in the three match Test series after losing the first Test at Galle. The match was equally poised till the third day of the match. India had gained a slender first innings lead of 87 runs after Sri Lanka were bowled out for 306 in reply to India’s first innings total of 393 all out.
India then built on their first innings lead of 87 and declared on a second innings score of 325/8 after the second session on Day 4. Sri Lanka had been given a target of 413 runs to chase down. With only one and a half day remaining, the match seemed to be headed towards a draw.
Extra cover: Top 5 wicket-takers in Tests between India and Sri Lanka
However, Ravichandran Ashwin had other ideas. He spun a web around the Sri Lankan batsmen with his off-spin and totally uprooted the top-order. Sri Lanka were ultimately bowled out for 134 inside 44 overs as the match came to an end with a day of play remaining. Ashwin’s victims included that of Kaushal Silva (1), Dimuth Karunaratne (46), Kumar Sangakkara (18), Lahiru Thirimanne (11) and Dhamika Prasad (0). He ended up with a spell of 16-6-42-5 and his two wickets in the first innings took his match figures to 7/118.