Sri Lanka vs India 2017: 5 things that India did right to beat Sri Lanka
India sealed the Test series against Sri Lanka by defeating them in the second Test at Colombo by an innings and 53 runs. This was India’s 9th innings victory over Sri Lanka and their first at Sri Lanka. In reply to India’s 622 in the first innings, the Lankans could only pile manage 183 in their first innings thanks to Ravichandran Ashwin’s fifer.
Virat Kohli forced the hosts to follow-on and Sri Lanka lost Upul Tharanga early but Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis batted brilliantly with the latter being the aggressor in a second-wicket partnership that garnered 191 runs . Mendis reached his third Test century and things were looking good for Sri Lanka before Hardik Pandya got the key wicket of Mendis and Sri Lanka were 198/2.
Malinda Pushpakumara was sent up the order at No.4 and he stayed at the crease along with Karunaratne till the end of day 3. During the beginning of day 4, India had a golden opportunity to dismiss Karunaratne only for KL Rahul to drop him. The batter then brought up his hundred with a boundary.
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India got their third wicket after Ashwin dismissed Pushpakumara following which Ravindra Jadeja dismissed skipper Dinesh Chandimal. However, Angelo Matthews joined Karunaratne on the crease and they put up a partnership of 69 for the fifth wicket to bring the hosts back into the game. Jadeja broke the partnership by dismissing the danger man Karunaratne for 141 and Sri Lanka were 310/5.
Karunaratne’s dismissal triggered a downfall in the Sri Lankan batting and the remaining players couldn’t stay at the crease for long. Sri Lanka were eventually dismissed for 386 and Ravindra Jadeja was righteously adjudged Man of the Match for his spell of 5/152 in the second innings in addition to his 85-ball 70 in the first innings.
With the third Test merely being a formality, let’s take a look at five things that helped India ground Sri Lanka in the second Test.
#5 Handing the ball to Hardik Pandya in the second innings
The Indian spinners had done brilliantly in the first Test and had done equally well to restrict Sri Lanka to just 183 in the first innings of the second Test. Due to Ashwin and Jadeja’s exploits with the ball, the likes of Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami did not have to bend their back and Hardik Pandya wasn’t even given a chance to bowl during the first innings.
In the second innings, Sri Lanka were doing well after losing Tharanga early with Mendis and Karunaratne steady on the crease. With neither of Ashwin, Jadeja, Yadav, or Shami able to take a wicket, Virat Kohli introduced Hardik Pandya into the attack. The 23-year old produced a much needed breakthrough by sending Kusal Mendis back to the pavilion, thus ending a 191-run partnership for the second wicket.
Pandya got a second wicket by dismissing Niroshan Dickwella, thus ending Sri Lanka’s hopes of saving the match. He ended the innings with figures of 2/31 which are his best figures in Test Cricket as of now.