After missing the chance to take the game home in Kolkata, Virat Kohli and Co. made a phenomenal comeback in Nagpur. With 3 centuries from the Indian batsmen and a double ton from the skipper Virat Kohli, the home team took a strong lead of 405 runs in the first innings. Later the Indian bowlers made the job tough for Lankans and India beat Sri Lanka by an inning and 239 runs and lead the series 1-0. Ravi Ashwin took the last wicket and become the fastest bowler to get 300 wickets in Test cricket.
Virat Kohli bagged the Man of the Match for scoring 213 runs off 267 balls including 2 sixes and 17 boundaries.
Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka resumed their inning from 21/1. Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne gave a good and steady start. However, they couldn’t stay long at the crease. Ashwin struck early in the first session of the day and removed Thirimanne on 9. The spinners turned the game against the visitors and frustrated them throughout.
After losing 3 wickets from the top order, skipper Dinesh Chandimal and Dasun Shanak made a partnership of 27 runs and tried to anchor the inning but Ashwin struck again and dismissed Shanka on 17. Chandimal tried his best to take the game further but he didn’t a support from the other end. After scoring 61 off 82 balls, Chandimal lost his wicket to Umesh Yadav after which the rest of the batting order scattered.
Ravindra Jadeja took three crucial wickets and removed Angelo Mathews (10), Niroshan Dickwella (24) and Dilruwan Perera (15) in the first innings and grabbed 2 in the second. Ashwin took a total of 8 wickets, 4 wickets in an innings each, and became the fastest bowler to claim 300 wickets in Test cricket.
Umesh Yadav took 2 wickets while Ishant Sharma, who replaced Bhuvneshwar Kumar in this match, claimed 5 wickets.
India now leads the series by 1-0. The last match of this series is scheduled to be played at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi starting from December 2.
