Experienced opening batter Dimith Karunaratne produced one of the better hundreds made on Indian soil, but Sri Lanka still succumbed to a heavy 238-run defeat in the second and the final Test of the series on March 14.
The stoic left-hander fought and fought hard for his memorable 107 off 174 deliveries to almost singlehandedly frustrate the mighty Indian bowling attack for the first couple of sessions on Day 3.
Karunaratne’s 14th Test century was the only shining light for the hapless visitors as they collapsed to 208 inside 60 overs in the fourth innings against the skiddy pink-ball on a tricky surface in Bangalore, falling well short of the daunting target of 447.
Only No.3 Kushal Mendis (54) showcased any level of resistance at the other end for Sri Lanka. The Mendis-Karunaratne, in fact, started off brilliantly in the afternoon session and produced 62 runs off the first 12 overs in their fighting second-wicket partnership of 97 runs.
But once Mendis fell, the onus to keep the fight going was on Karunaratne entirely, with the wickets falling at regular intervals at the other end. Sri Lanka went from 97/1 to 208 all out, a collapse reflecting their longstanding batting issues but also the quality of the Indian bowling.
An unrelenting force, India produced one good ball after another and looked like breaking through at all times. Once past that Mendis-Karunaratne stand, they added two more wickets to their tally in the opening session and eventually finished the Test before even the floodlights took effect. Ace bowlers Ravichandran Ashwin (4/55) and Jasprit Bumrah (3/23) were the chief destroyers, while Axar Patel (2/37) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/48) also chipped in.
Bumrah was the star of the show in the first-innings, too, taking a rare fast-bowling five-fer on Indian soil to finish with astonishing figures of five for 24. Bumrah was exceptional under lights with the pink ball and destroyed the Sri Lankan batting. Combining forces with Ashwin (2/30) and Mohammad Shami (2/18), he helped India dismiss the opposition for a paltry 109 and take a decisive first-innings lead of 143.
For India, middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant were the two stand-out batters on a tough pitch. Iyer produced outstanding knocks of 92 & 67 in either innings to only further solidify his position in an in-transition Indian middle-order. The batter was superb with his footwork against spin and made sure the opposition could never get settled with their bowling plans.
Talk about destroying opposition plans, Pant batted in ultra aggressive mode for his two eye-catching knocks of 39 off 21 and 50 off 31 balls in the Test match. On a surface where as a batter one could never feel completely in, Pant decided to go at his natural tempo and took calculative risks to take the game back to Sri Lanka, which they failed to counter back to.
Another notable positive for the Indian batting was how well Hanuma Vihari looked at the crease. Backing his basics to hold him in good stead, he played composed knocks of 31 off 81 and 35 off 79. The Indian batter, who produced a solid half-century in the first Test, seems to be relishing his promotion to No.3. He’ll be a key figure when India next play a Test match in July at Edgbaston against England.
A 2-0 Test series win against Sri Lanka has given India full 24 points towards the new cycle of the World Test Championship.
Brief scores
India 252/10 (Iyer 92, Pant 39; Jayawickrama 3/81) & 303/9 dec ( Iyer 67, Pant 50; Jayawickrama 4/78) beat Sri Lanka 109/10 (Matthews 43; Bumrah 5/24, Ashwin 2/30) & 208/10 (Karunaratne 107, Mendis 54; Ashwin 5/44) by 238 runs
