Manav Suthar dismantles Sri Lanka tail after morning resistance

Dhananjaya de Silva and Sonal Dinusha worked hard on day four, but Manav Suthar quickly undid all their morning defiance with a devastating post-Lunch spell, spearheading India’s 165-run win in the Galle Test.

There was no rain to greet the players in the first session — an intervention the hosts would have welcomed — with clear blue skies over the scenic ramparts of the fort. Just like those walls, the overnight pair of de Silva and Dinusha stayed rigid in their defensive act, playing the turn well and adeptly using the depth of their crease. By the first drinks break they had added 54 runs.

Ravindra Jadeja broke India out of their slumber, getting a tame sweep from de Silva to balloon to short fine-leg. It snapped their 95-run stand and brought in Niroshan Dickwella, Sri Lanka’s last real specialist batter.

Dickwella showed little patience. Five balls in he brought out the reverse sweep, using the conventional version repeatedly against Kuldeep Yadav. Prasidh Krishna tested him with short deliveries, but a verbal jab from Yashasvi Jaiswal at square leg may have hastened his exit. Moments after Jaiswal prodded him for not scoring quicker, Dickwella went for an awkward slash by making room off Prasidh, only to guide it to Rishabh Pant.

Post-lunch collapse

Dinusha kept vigil, heavily relying on the sweep, but he quickly ran out of partners. Suthar, introduced one over into the second session after Kuldeep and Jadeja started, was tossing and drifting it like he has done all series and accurately getting bite from the surface. By Lunch Sri Lanka were 175 for 6.

Suthar probably skipped his meal. Dinusha and Keshara Nuwantha survived eight overs, but Suthar delivered the sucker punch by making Dinusha softly nurdle a turning ball to leg gully, depriving him of a second century of the game.

The collapse accelerated. Next ball, Prabath Jayasuriya was undone by a ball that gripped and rattled his stumps. Lahiru Kumara defied a hat-trick, but edged behind playing for spin four balls later. That gave Suthar his fifth wicket, with only four other Indians having taken multiple five-fors in their first two Tests.

Suthar was on a hat-trick at one point and claimed three wickets in one over to pull Sri Lanka down from 199 for 6 to 199 for 9, finishing with figures of 6 for 55 in the innings and a ten-wicket match haul.

In his next over Suthar had his tenth scalp of the game, cleaning up Nuwantha to seal 12 points for India in the World Test Championship. Rain finally arrived minutes after the win was complete — a little too late for Sri Lanka, who might have pushed the contest into a final session had it appeared earlier.

Brief scores: India 462 & 193 beat Sri Lanka 284 & 206 for 10 (Sonal Dinusha 84, Dhananjaya de Silva 59; Manav Suthar 6-55, Prasidh Krishna 2-16) by 165 runs.