India 462 (Padikkal 167, Rahul 82, Jayasuriya 4-109) and 193 (Pant 66, Asitha 4-31, Jayasuriya 3-43) beat Sri Lanka 284 (Dinusha 100, Dickwella 80, Suthar 4-76, Jadeja 3-57) and 206 (Dinusha 84, Dhananjaya 59, Suthar 6-55) by 165 runs
It will be a welcome win for a young transitioning team that has lost two out of its last three series in spin-friendly conditions, that too at home. They did win the big toss, but had to contend with dodgy weather through the Test, which did play a part in some of the shots their middle-order batters played in the first innings.
The bowling, though, was excellent with the continuous rise of Suthar, enough threat from Ravndra Jadeja, handy contributions from the seamers who combined for a lot of control and five wickets in the match, and slow progress of Kuldeep Yadav hopefully towards better rhythm.
On the final day, needing six wickets to win, India stayed with pace at one end. Mohammed Siraj and Jadeja kept testing Dinusha and de Silva, who made their ways to half-centuries. The overnight pair saw off the first spells of these bowlers, but Jadeja came back after less than a half hour to get rid of de Silva. He went past the outside edge with one that turned big and then slowed the next ball down, drawing a top edge on the sweep.
Dinusha and Keshara Nuwantha hung in for 15 overs, but one mistake from Dinusha opened the floodgates. Suthar had gone around the wicket, pitched one outside leg, and he just turned the ball straight into the hands of the only catching man, the leg gully. The extra bounce probably played a part.
Suthar will be mighty pleased with the next three wickets because they were all a result of less turn than expected. All bowled quicker with a square seam rather than overspin with the seam pointing towards slip, which is his main weapon. However, if you keep turning the ball big, you can keep going past the edge without actually taking a wicket. Suthar showed he has the variation and exposed the other edge as well. Nuwantha was the last man out, bowled off the inside edge, with 2.2 overs still to go for the new ball.
