Sonal Dinusha ground out a second-innings century as Sri Lanka forced a draw out of their second Test against India at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo on Thursday. India have thus won the two-match Test series 1-0, having beaten the hosts by 165 runs in the first match in Galle.
It is the first time that India have enforced a follow-on in a Test against Sri Lanka and failed to win the match. Sri Lanka finished with a score of 429/9 in 154 overs.
India had looked on their way to a victory in the second Test at the end of the fourth day when they took a string of Sri Lankan wickets after breaking Pasindu Sooriyabandara and Kamindu Mendis’s resistance. Sri Lanka started the fifth day on a score of 229/6 with Dinusha on seven runs in 37 balls.
He had Keshara Nuwantha at the other end and the pair remarkably ensured that Sri Lanka lost no wickets in the first session. The pair forged a seventh-wicket partnership of 112 runs with Nuwantha scoring 46 in 150 balls before finaly falling to Manav Suthar. Just over 10 overs later, Ravindra Jadeja dismissed Prabath Jayasuriya, thus raising hopes of India attempting a chase with Sri Lanka leading by 142 runs.
However, pacers Lahiru Kumara and later Asitha Fernando then played their role of shutting up one end to near perfection. Kumara faced 90 deliveries for 12 runs as Dinusha at the other end scored his century in 196 balls. Dinusha had also scored 103 in the first innings of this Test and 100 and 84 in the first Test in Galle.
By the time Lahiru fell to Jadeja, any realistic chances of an Indian win had faded away. India ended up handing the ball over to their batters towards the end of the day, with captain Shubman Gill who had bowled just seven balls in his Test career before Thursday, bowling two overs and even nearly getting the last Sri Lankan wicket. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel also bowled an over each.
After the fall of the sixth wicket, Sri Lanka’s lower-order batters dug in and collectively spent close to 90 overs at the crease along with Dinusha and saved the Test.
1139 minutes, 722 balls, 420 runs and three hundreds. Over the last two weeks, Sonal Dinusha accumulated staggering numbers, but the time he spent at the crease will stand the test of time. It was the major reason why Sri Lanka lived to fight on Day 5 in Galle and Colombo against India.
Before diving into his heroics, it’s important to note his entry points in the four innings against India to add much-needed context.90/4 and 47/4 in the first Test, followed by 122/4 and 209/4 in the second. While the scorecard makes for comfortable reading in the final essay in Colombo, the situation there was the trickiest.
Sri Lanka needed to play for time — a lot of it. Two quick wickets in the next few overs meant the 25-year-old was left with just the bowlers for company. He had faced a similar situation in the previous innings, but the stakes were highest on Days 4 and 5 at the SSC, with India desperate for the remaining wickets to enforce a result.
Sonal Dinushas defiance, grit & determination holds good for the rise of SL Test Cricket as they have found a gem of a batsman who is skilled & has the best temperament in this current lineup. One really hopes SL groom him & under the able tutorship of Gary Kirsten there is an optimism that Dinusha will scale newer heights keeping his head down in time to come!
Courtesy: Written by Raghav Ravichandran