Nagpur: R Ashwin became quickest to scalp 300 Test wickets as India thumped Sri Lanka to complete an innings and 239-run victory in the second Test here on Monday, beating them by 239 runs. With this win, the hosts have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
300th Test wicket for @ashwinravi99 and #TeamIndia take a 1-0 lead in the 3-match Test series. India seal the 2nd Test in Nagpur by an innings and 239 runs #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/mq56alEczD
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 27, 2017
Congratulations to @ashwinravi99 on reaching 300 Test wickets, the fastest player to reach the milestone, taking just 54 matches! #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/IW7lzG4ZMd
— ICC (@ICC) November 27, 2017
The Test match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association was completely dominated by Virat Kohli’s men, after having restricted Dinesh Chandimal’s team to 205 in the first innings.
In reply, India declared at a mammoth 610-6, taking a huge lead of 405. During the hosts’ innings, it was a double ton by captain Virat Kohli (213) and centuries from Cheteshwar Pujara (143), Murali Vijay (128) and Rohit Sharma (102) which put themselves in the driver’s seat.
Trailing to India’s 405, the visitors once again had a worse start, losing Sadeera Samarawickrama in the first over. The only takeaway from the Lankans’ innings was a knock of 61 by Dinesh Chandimal as Ravichandran Ashwin got a wicket, inching to 300 Test wickets.
Ishant Sharma picked up five wickets in the match, while Ashwin finished with eight wickets, thereby completing 300 wickets.
The visitors will hope to bounce back and level the series when they head to New Delhi for the third Test, starting on December 2.
India have taken giant strides to wrap this match on Day four as Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and R Ashwin have sent four Sri Lankan batsmen packing before lunch here on Monday. The visitors have already lost the wickets of Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella, Dasun Shanaka, Dilruwan Perera and Rangana Herath as Suranga Lakmal joins Dinesh Chandimal in the middle.
Sri Lanka 110/8 from 36 overs:
WICKETS! This is gonna get over before lunch. R Ashwin has 2 in an over as Dilruwan Perera and Rangana Herath perish without troubling the scorers. R Ashwin on 299 Test wickets.
Sri Lanka 107/6 from 34 overs:
WICKET! The Dasun Shanaka show comes to an end. A shot too many and R Ashwin has his first wicket in this innings as KL Rahul does a fine job taking a skier. Sri Lanka 6 down.
Sri Lanka 76/5 from 31 overs:
WICKET! 5 down. Virat Kohli fumbles to take the catch on the first attempt but manages to hold onto the catch as Ishant Sharma removes Niroshan Dickwella to scalp his second wicket.
Sri Lanka 68/4 from 26 overs:
WICKET! They are crumbling! Sri Lanka have lost three wickets with around 50 more minutes for lunch on Day 4. Angelo Mathews gives an easy catch to Rohit Sharma at mid-off. Ravindra Jadeja has his 5th wicket of the match, 2nd in this innings. Sri Lanka 4 down.
Sri Lanka 52/3 from 21 overs:
WICKET! What is Sri Lanka upto! Lahiru Thirimanne slices a wide delivery straight into the hands of Ravindra Jadeja. A bonus wicket for India but it tells you more about how this Sri Lankan side has been playing in recent times. This was not a wicket-taking delivery from Umesh but Thirimanne offers a gift. India can simply say, "Thank you, Lahiru."
Sri Lanka 34/2 from 16 overs:
WICKET! Oh, what a stunner! Murali Vijay, at forward short-leg, has taken a ripper. Karunaratne tries to play a Ravindra Jadeja delivery through the leg-side but could not get past Vijay. Those kind of catches either stick or burst out. To Karunaratne's misfortune that just stuck. Early strike for India. Sri Lanka 2 down.
WATCH: Catch of the morning courtesy @mvj888 https://t.co/Nl4z6OxZ5Z #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/jmzzrqNdNP
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 27, 2017
One-wicket down and trailing by 384 runs, the signs look ominous for Sri Lanka as India chase an innings-victory on Day 4 of the second Test at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium here on Monday.
India declared their innings at 610/6 as Virat Kohli’s 213 and hundreds from Murali Vijay (128), Cheteshwar Pujara (143) and Rohit Sharma (102*) broke Sri Lanka’s back after Indian bowlers bundled out the visitors for 205 on Day one of the Test.
The spinning duo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja shared seven wickets between themselves in the first Sri Lankan innings while Ishant Sharma scalped three. The tall and lanky Delhi pacer added one more wicket to his tally as he sent the young Sri Lankan opener Sadeera Samarawickrama packing before stumps on Day 3.
The trio, along side Umesh Yadav, will aim to run through the Dinesh Chandimal-led Sri Lankan batting line-up on Monday at the Nagpur venue as the Kohli-led side targets 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series.
