Dominant India put Sri Lanka out of their misery in 3 days again to wrap up series 2-0; Karunaratne’s brave ton goes in vain
BENGALURU: An improbable target of 447, nine wickets in hand and pride at stake. It was a question of how long Sri Lanka could hold off a resurgent India.
In the final innings of what has been a forgettable tour for the Islanders, they put up their best show, which helped them reduce the margin of defeat.
At the M Chinnaswamy stadium here on Monday, the home team had to put the champagne on ice for a while as skipper Dimuth Karunaratne (107; 174b, 15×4) and Kusal Mendis (54; 60b, 8×4) decided not just to grind it out but also take on the Indian bowling attack led by the inform Jasprit Bumrah (3/23).
SCORECARD | AS IT HAPPENED
With 35 minutes remaining for the dinner break on Day 3, spin ace R Ashwin’s (4/55) tossed-up delivery to Vishwa Fernando was top-edged to Mohammed Shami, who collected the catch at mid-off, signalling India’s 238-run victory and a 2-0 series triumph.
The win marked Rohit Sharma’s first series win as Test skipper and head coach Rahul Dravid’s second series win at home in the longer format. The series turned out to be a six-day affair as both matches ended on the third day. This was also the Indian men’s 15th consecutive Test series victory at home.
Having lost out on eight ICC Championship points in the 0-1 loss to South Africa earlier this year, India regained ground with 24 points coming from the two-match series. This helped them climb to the fourth spot on the championship table. Also, India finished the home season unconquered in four Tests, three ODIs and nine T20s.
In the afternoon, it was Karunaratne and Mendis’ turn to entertain the sizeable crowd. The 97-run association between the two batsmen was marked by aggression and fearless striking of the ball. With Ravindra Jadeja opening the day’s proceedings, Karunaratne took on the spinner in the first ball, which he flicked through mid-wicket.
That was only an appetiser as the duo found the gaps against Jadeja, Ashwin and Axar. They also benefited from some poor fielding from the hosts. For 228 minutes, Karunaratne showed his teammates what it takes to take on a quality bowling attack.
The 33-year-old brought up his century with a fine flick to the backward square leg boundary off Bumrah. Bumrah ended the left-hander’s resistance with a good length ball which Karunaratne tried to drive but left a huge gap between the bat and the pad for the ball to crash into his middle stump. But the first wicket to fall on the day was that of Mendis.
Having proved to be an able ally to his skipper, the 27-year-old needlessly stepped out against Ashwin and was way out of the crease when Rishabh Pant disturbed the timber to break Sri Lanka’s best partnership of the series.
With the turn and variable bounce probing the batsmen, the middle and lower-order didn’t offer much in terms of resistance. Axar Patel (2/37) helped India speed up the formalities.
THE LAKMAL GESTURE
It is one thing to play to the best of your ability and another to exhibit sportsman spirit. In a stirring display of character, Bumrah, who signalled the end of Suranga Lakmal’s international career with a fullish delivery which hit the leg stump, was the first one to run up, shake hands and hug the 35-year-old.
The rest of the Indian players followed and in cue with the team’s gesture, the Bengaluru crowd accorded the former Sri Lanka skipper a standing ovation.
