Young batter Sonal Dinusha emerged as the star for Sri Lanka as the hosts drew India in stunning fashion in the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo on Thursday, August 27. The Lankans had their backs to the wall when they were forced to follow on. However, Dinusha’s twin centuries helped them avoid another embarrassing defeat, after they had lost the first Test in Galle. India batted first in this encounter and put up a mammoth 503-9 declared after playing out 138 overs.
Devdutt Padikkal (117) and Dhruv Jurel (115) led the way for the Indians, with captain Shubman Gill (50) and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant (67) also contributing. Padikkal, who had scored a century in the first Test as well, showed his class yet again by using his feet to get to the pitch of the ball and making good use of the sweep against spinners.
Seamer Asitha Fernando was the most successful bowler for the Lankans, returning with figures of 4-106. In reply, the home team could not make the most of the placidity of this SSC surface. It was only Dinusha (103) who provided any resistance to the Indians. Another young batter, Pasindu Sooriyabandara, also did well, scoring a 133-ball 80. No other Lankan batter crossed the 35-run mark, which meant that the home team were bowled out for 290.
For the visitors, Prasidh Krishna and Manav Suthar picked up three wickets apiece. India’s massive lead gave captain Gill the option to enforce the follow-on. He did so without any hesitation. However, this time around, the plan backfired as the Lankans completely dominated the Indian bowling attack. Dinusha starred once again, remaining unbeaten on 133, but he received plenty of support from Sooriyabandara (92), Kamindu Mendis (50) and Keshara Nuwantha (46).
This took the Lankan total to 429-9 before they chose to declare with a lead of 216 runs. Nonetheless, there was no time left in the game, with all five days almost played out. The teams then had no option but to shake hands and accept a draw as a fair result. The Indians will be disheartened by their second innings bowling performance since they could have gone for a massive victory, but the Sri Lankans will rejoice and treat this draw as a win. India took home the two-match series 1-0.
