India unravelled Sri Lanka's final-day resistance at the Galle cricket stadium to complete a comfortable 165-run victory, with left-arm spinner Manav Suthar finishing with a six-wicket haul on a day that was itself racing against the darkening skies.

Dark clouds rushed over the Galle cricket stadium at around 1:20 PM on Wednesday, with the looming threat of rain hanging over proceedings. But by the time the downpour eventually arrived five minutes later, it was almost mocking the home side — Sri Lanka's defiance had simply not lasted long enough. Neither for India to need the new ball, nor for the showers to keep them indoors and add another twist to a fifth-day finish.

It was Suthar who delivered the decisive blow, cleaning up Keshara Nuwantha to lead India to victory and seal his first overseas six-wicket haul. For a young man who is not used to the drill of cameramen orbiting him and deciding which lens to look at, it was a moment to savour.

Sri Lanka's early resolve

A Day 5 finish often poses pressing questions for the batters: How long can you defy? Can you keep the outside edge away from the ball? Can you play with soft hands out of the reach of vulturous close-in catchers? And can you do that for an entire day?

Dhananjaya de Silva and Sonal Dinusha were up for it at the start. The surface, even on the final day, didn't offer so much turn that it would ridicule batters and leave no scope for a fair fight. When the day began, the ball was 34 overs old and soft, giving Sri Lanka precedence for optimism. In the first innings they had picked up the pieces from 90/5 in the 27th over and found a partnership when the ball had gone similarly soft.

For the first hour and a half, Sri Lanka were on track. Dhananjaya was intent on making India pay for the reprieve from the previous evening, looking assured playing forward and back, sweeping well and leaving very little room for length errors from the spinners. He was largely in control until one from Ravindra Jadeja turned a little more than he anticipated and squared him up. The urge to shake off that loss of control kicked in, and he ended up top-edging a quicker, fuller ball to short fine leg with a sweep.

India rattle Dickwella with bouncers

Niroshan Dickwella joined Dinusha looking to complete Sri Lanka's comeback arc, but India's relentlessness didn't allow that dramatic narrative to develop. India's plan for Dickwella this time was to bowl bouncers and simply rile him up — doing what Sri Lanka had done to Rishabh Pant, but much better.

Krishna dug the ball in with boundary riders stationed at deep backward point, third man, fine leg and deep square leg, while Yashasvi Jaiswal goaded Dickwella between deliveries to hit big over square leg in exchange for an IPL contract. Dickwella humoured him but didn't take the bait, his eyes set on the cover boundary instead. But Krishna's subtle shift in line got him anyway — cramped by the change, Dickwella edged behind to Rishabh Pant, triggering the beginning of the end for Sri Lanka.

Suthar's defining spell

Sri Lanka had started the day at 84/4 with stoic determination to save the game, and two late wickets in the morning session ought to have shaken that belief. But head coach Gary Kirsten didn't let the flame die out. Dinusha returned from the break with the same conviction, while debutant Nuwantha didn't let first-innings-like nerves get to him.

India then switched angles, with all of its spinners going round the wicket to the left-handed Dinusha, making the sweep a risky outlet with two close-in catchers stationed on the leg side. Dinusha, only four Tests old and admirably solid for a rookie in this match, fell against the run of play, clipping a tossed-up length delivery from Suthar onto his pads and into the hands of the only remaining close catcher at leg gully.

In the next 15 deliveries, Suthar showed why, in only his second Test, he belonged at this level. Prabath Jayasuriya got a 92.7kmph delivery first up that was simply too loaded for the lower-order batter to negotiate — 5kmph quicker than the previous ball, it drifted in, gripped off the surface and turned just enough to take the top of off-stump. Even if he tried, Suthar couldn't have asked more of a single delivery.

Suthar picked a third wicket in that over when Lahiru Kumara defended forward playing for the turn that never came and feathered the ball behind, before slipping in a quicker one to end Keshara's — and Sri Lanka's — fight.

'A special skill to have'

Suthar's fast start in the format has led to inevitable comparisons with Ravindra Jadeja. Beyond both being left-arm spinners, there's much that sets them apart stylistically, yet KL Rahul saw echoes of the seasoned campaigner in the Rajasthan spinner's game.

"I think he's very consistent. From the same place just using subtle variations, he's able to do that through the day. Then the batters will also think that if he's not budging, I'll have to do something. When you get a batter in that sort of mindset, you win that contest," Rahul said of Suthar's strengths. "I think his greatest thing is his pace that he bowls at and his consistency to always challenge all modes of dismissals. Because of the line that he bowls, LBW comes into play. If it turns a little, there's opportunity for caught behind and bowled too. That's a special skill to have."

Suthar's slowest and fastest delivery in the game were 31kmph apart, both delivered with the same, flowing action. "Without changing his arm speed he's able to bowl slower and with the same arm speed he's able to bowl quicker as well," Rahul noted, adding that Shubman Gill also got him to bowl a lot from the Fort End to maximise the cross winds for his drift.

"Here in Galle when the wind was blowing from one side, he used that drift really well and from there the ball straightens or turns in, so that's something that he's always done," Rahul added.

For Suthar, the consolation was complete as the heavy downpour began at 1:25 PM — but by then, the job was already done.