26/07Result
1st Test, India tour of Sri Lanka at Galle, Jul 26-29 2017
India won by 304 runs
Player of the Match
Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar DhawanIndia
26/07Result
1st Test, India tour of Sri Lanka at Galle, Jul 26-29 2017
India won by 304 runs
Player of the Match
Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar DhawanIndia

12.50 pm It appears India will not be enforcing the follow-on despite having a lead of 309. The openers Shikhar Dhawan and Abhinav Mukund raced away to the dressing room, presumably to pad up and bat again.

Poor Dilruwan, he's left stranded on 92, having played perhaps the best out of the Sri Lankan batsmen. Batting at No. 7, he wasn't perturned by the skill of the Indian spinners, and he handled the fast bowlers excellently, even against well directed short balls. Assurance like that has been hard to come by for the hosts

JackInTheOff: "Gotta feel for Perera. Left stranded after playing a superb knock under pressure, when everyone around his kept playing our! "

Siva Prasad: "Not enforcing follow-on just to pile on more misery on the Lankans? or the fear of having to chase on a pitch assisting bowlers more every ball??"

Hey, fear is good. Best motivator ever.

Arun: "Good decision not to enforce follow on.. Score 200+ by evening.. Set a target of 550+ and start bowling fresh tomorrow"

With the fifth season of the Pro Kabaddi League starting today, our sister site espn.in outlines the key storylines to look forward to.

78.3
W
Jadeja to Kumara, OUT, nails the top of off stump! This is sensational bowling - he loops it up outside off and draws Kumara forward, but the batsman doesn't realise this one also drifts away, just that couple of inches, and turns in just enough. but all the best tricks are subtle. Kumara doesn't cover for it and ends up playing inside the line and is beaten on the outside edge. Just top class, even if he only had to deal with a tail-ender

CBRLS Kumara b Jadeja 2 (15m 12b 0x4 0x6) SR: 16.66

78.2
0
Jadeja to Kumara, no run, watches it carefully and then strides forward to block in front of middle
78.1
0
Jadeja to Kumara, no run, tosses it up outside off, Kumara smothers it

Ravindra Jadeja from the other end, with slip, leg slip and short leg

END OF OVER:
78 | 2 Runs | SL: 291/8

  • Dilruwan Perera92 (132b)
  • Lahiru Kumara2 (9b)
  • Hardik Pandya3-0-13-1
  • Ravindra Jadeja22-3-67-2
77.6
0
Pandya to Perera, no run, fullish on off stump, taps to cover
77.5
2
Pandya to Perera, 2 runs, direct hit from the man at cover would have run him out. Kumara isn't match-aware. he doesn't know this is the fifth ball of the over and so Dilruwan will be looking for single to keep strike. Abhinav can't hit, and it yields an overthrow as well
77.4
0
Pandya to Perera, no run, that's better, he goes wide of the crease for a fuller ball on off stump, it draws Dilruwan forward with a defensive bat
77.3
0
Pandya to Perera, no run, firm push to mid-on as Pandya keeps exploring the areas of the pitch closer to him instead of the batsman
77.2
0
Pandya to Perera, no run, shortish on off stump and it thuds into the middle of Dilruwan's bat
77.1
0
Pandya to Perera, no run, watches the progress of a good length ball outside off, seems to enjoy it

Hardik Pandya to resume. He's got two slips, a deep point, a long leg and a deep square leg

12.40 pm And out come the Indian fielders, and in they go for the huddle. They have to take one more wicket to either bat again or make Sri Lanka follow-on. Dilruwan Perera has been their biggest pain in the backside, playing as good as a top-order bat, reading the length early, not premeditating against spin and still using his feet splendidly. He's 10 short of a maiden Test century...

"Is there any changes in Ashwin's bowling happened recently or others are pitching in equally?" Only that he's gone back to his classical action, the one he worked on ahead of the Bangladesh tour in 2016, as demonstrated in his Cricket Monthly profile piece here

END OF OVER:
77 | 5 Runs | SL: 289/8

  • Lahiru Kumara2 (9b)
  • Dilruwan Perera90 (126b)
  • Ravindra Jadeja22-3-67-2
  • Ravichandran Ashwin27-5-84-1

Noon That is lunch on the third day. Jadeja was the most threatening bowler this session, mixing his quick fizzers with tossed-up balls. One such tossed-up ball had Mathews scooping a catch to short leg. He then had Herath gloving a catch to slip. Dilruwan Perera, though, has rallied the lower order to hold off India's charge. His footwork against spin and pace alike has been excellent. He hasn't been dismissed for more than 200 balls, having made 29* off 76 to help Sri Lanka topple Zimbabwe at Khettarama. SL need a further 112 runs to avert the follow-on. Be back in 40 minutes.

76.6
0
Jadeja to Kumara, no run, dangled up on off, dead-batted
76.5
0
Jadeja to Kumara, no run, slides in on middle from over the wicket, defended with soft hands
76.4
1
Jadeja to Perera, 1 run,
76.3
4
Jadeja to Perera, FOUR, tossed up, full, and breaks away outside off, encourages Dilruwan to drive away from the body. An outside edge streaks away past the right of slip
76.2
0
Jadeja to Perera, no run, flatter and faster on off, Dilruwan jabs his bat down
76.1
0
Jadeja to Perera, no run, full on middle, played back to the bowler

END OF OVER:
76 | (maiden) | SL: 284/8

  • Lahiru Kumara2 (7b)
  • Dilruwan Perera85 (122b)
  • Ravichandran Ashwin27-5-84-1
  • Ravindra Jadeja21-3-62-2
75.6
0
Ashwin to Kumara, no run, starts on middle and breaks away, Kumara keeps it out. He safely negotiates six balls from Ashwin
75.5
0
Ashwin to Kumara, no run, floated up on middle, played back to the bowler
75.4
0
Ashwin to Kumara, no run, drifts in on off, tossed up, Kumara is half forward as he squirts an inside edge onto the pad
75.3
0
Ashwin to Kumara, no run, drifting into the pads, prodded away past short leg
75.2
0
Ashwin to Kumara, no run, drifts in from wide of the crease, dead-batted
75.1
0
Ashwin to Kumara, no run, slides on on a fourth-stump line, presses forward and blocks it well enough

Ashwin returns. Around the wicket

END OF OVER:
75 | 2 Runs | SL: 284/8

  • Dilruwan Perera85 (122b)
  • Lahiru Kumara2 (1b)
  • Ravindra Jadeja21-3-62-2
  • Hardik Pandya2-0-11-1
74.6
0
Jadeja to Perera, no run, short and wide outside off, chopped to point, more or less straight to the fielder. This is the last ball and Kumara wants a single, but is sent back. Pandya collects the ball quickly but can't throw the stumps down at the non-striker's end. A direct hit could have had Kumara

Match Coverage

All Match News

Humongous target

1

No. of bigger targets set by India in Tests, than the 550 runs in this match. They had set NZ 617 in Wellington in 2008-09 and that match ended as draw.

Top-four high

2009

Last time India's top-4 scored 3 or more centuries in a Test, before this match. Gambhir, Sehwag and Dravid had scored 100s against SL in Kanpur.

Mukund's best

62

Abhinav Mukund's previous highest score in Tests. His fifty in this innings is only his second in 14 Test innings/

Huge lead, no follow-on

1

No. of bigger first inns leads for Ind after which they did not enforce follow-on. Dravid had chosen to bat again after 319-run lead at Oval 2007 and that was drawn.

Big gain

309

India's first innings lead in this match, their highest ever in a Test in Sri Lanka. Their previous highest was lead of 192 runs in Galle in 2015.

Dilruwan loves Galle

3

No. of 50+ scores for Dilruwan Perera in his last 4 Test innings in Galle, including this inns. 3 of his 5 Test fifties have come in Galle.

Mathews continuing it

339

Runs scored by Mathews when India toured Sri Lanka last time, in 2015. He was the highest run-getter of the series and also the only one to make 2 100s.

Another 600

5

No. of 600-plus totals by India in last one year, including this. All other teams combined have scored only one such total; Australia v Pak at MCG.

Nuwan's first

0

No. of five-wicket hauls for Nuwan Pradeep in his Test career, before this game. He gets his maiden five-for in his 25th Test. He had six four-fors.

Herath's rare failure

2

No. of times Herath has conceded over 100 runs before taking a wicket in a home Test, including this match. The earlier one was also in Galle, v Pak in 2000.

Makes'em big

6

No. of 150+ scores for Pujara, including this innings. He has converted 50% of his centuries into 150+ scores - 6 out of 12.

Dhawan's session

110

Previous most runs by an India batsman in the 2nd session of the day, by Polly Umrigar v WI, PoS 1961-62. Dhawan has overcome that starting the session on 64*.

Starts strong

4

No. of 100s for Dhawan in the first or only Test of a series, including this. The only exception was his 187 on debut which was the 3rd Test of that series.

Second-wicket high

8

No. of century partnerships for the 2nd wicket for India since 2016, easily the most among all teams. NZ are next with 5 century stands for that wicket.

Dhawan v Sri Lanka

63.85

Dhawan's ave in International matches against SL, before today - his best against any opposition (2+ inns). He scored 125 in recent Champions Trophy match.