Player of the Match
Player of the Match

4.30pm Shortly after raising his 17th Test hundred, Virat Kohli declared on the fourth morning, setting Sri Lanka an improbable 550. Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav then found seam movement and broke through with the new ball. Dimuth Karunaratne, though, was tight in defence, and pounced on the bad balls. He led Sri Lanka's resistance with 97 but lacked enough support from the other end. Jadeja and Ashwin, who claimed three wickets each, took care of the middle and lower order. India could not have asked for a better start to the series. It was a near-perfect Test for them.

Sri Lanka have a lot to worry about: Asela's injury, his replacement, Herath's injury, Chandimal's fitness, Mathews inglorious hoick, which adds to his batting slump, the lack of bite from their bowlers, and of course the dropped catches. Where will they go after this 304-run shellacking inside four days?

Shikhar Dhawan, Man of the Match: I really enjoyed batting over here. I just watched the ball and backed my game. There is a very healthy competition from the opening spot in the side, and it keeps me on my toes.

Rangana Herath: The finger is getting better. There is nothing on the scan, and I am sure it will get better. It is a pretty good wicket, and the toss was not a factor. Credit to the India team, and we need improvement in all three departments. Asela's loss is huge.

Virat Kohli: We lost a Test we should have won in 2015 here. This time it was a clinical performance two years down the line. Really happy with the way things went in this Test. The surface did not offer much, and that's why the win is special. We have to work hard. It's an example of the skill they possess, and persistent pressure always pays. That's something we believe in. The opening competition is a happy headache. It felt nice that it came off nicely. Abhinav batted well and he deserved a hundred.

That's a wrap of this game. Watch out for features from Fernando and Monga. From Al Muthu, Deva Muthu, Shashank Kishore and Sanjay Murari, it's ta ra. Do come back for the second Test, starting August 3

Samraat: "Without a doubt turning point of match was on the very first day when Gunaratne dropped dhawan.Dhawan went on to smash quick fire 190 and gunaratne went to hospital and didn't came back"

Harry: "This is the biggest test losses for SL (by runs): 304 this Test * Previous one is 301 v Pak, PSS, 1994"

Akash Anand: "For all the talk about fightback from srilanka.. They were 64 runs short of India's first inning total. Need a lot of improvement to compete in the series "

Paranjaya Nepal: "I guess the man of the match shall go to Dhawan. Turned the game on its head with his blitzkrieg. "

Vikram: "Kuldeep should gate a game in place of Umesh in the next match if we get a similar wicket."

Ankur: "What a coincidence. Both SL and SA's innings finished together."

Rahul: "Some matches are done amd dusted on the day 1 itself. This was one such test thanks to Dhawan 's brilliance "

Samraat: "Who would have imagined dhawan scoring 190 and getting MOTM before the start of series. Destiny?" Yeah, --- He's destiny's child

76.5
W
Jadeja to Kumara, OUT, Kumara holes out, the injured Herath won't bat. It's all over. India conquer Galle. Jadeja sews up India's 304-run victory. This was liberally tossed up outside off and breaks back in. Kumara has an almighty slog-sweep at it and only top-edges it hiiiiiiiiigh in the air. Shami at mid-off settles under this skier. This is India's biggest win away from home in terms of runs. Kohli grins from ear to ear, and India soak in the moment

CBRLS Kumara c Mohammed Shami b Jadeja 0 (9m 8b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00

76.4
0
Jadeja to Kumara, no run, flighted and outside off, Kumara capably presses forward and smothers it
76.3
0
Jadeja to Kumara, no run, opens the face and angles the full ball from outside off to point
76.2
0
Jadeja to Kumara, no run, darted short and outside off, back-foot defence to silly point
76.1
0
Jadeja to Kumara, no run, full and straight on off, Kumara defends it back to the bowler

END OF OVER:
76 | (maiden) | SL: 245/7

  • Dilruwan Perera21 (50b)
  • Lahiru Kumara0 (3b)
  • Ravichandran Ashwin27-4-65-3
  • Ravindra Jadeja24-4-71-2
75.6
0
Ashwin to Perera, no run, short and bounces outside off, Ashwin skims past the outside edge again. He is toying with these tail-enders
75.5
0
Ashwin to Perera, no run, carrom ball, drifting down leg, the batsman does not pick the variation; beats Dilruwan's attempt to lap-sweep
75.4
0
Ashwin to Perera, no run, spins in from outside off, Dilruwan shuts it out with a solid block
75.3
0
Ashwin to Perera, no run, looped up on off, forward-defensive
75.2
0
Ashwin to Perera, no run, defended with the break to square leg
75.1
0
Ashwin to Perera, no run, fizzes past the outside edge. Skids on outside off, Dilruwan plays inside the line and is beaten

END OF OVER:
75 | 5 Runs | SL: 245/7

  • Lahiru Kumara0 (3b)
  • Dilruwan Perera21 (44b)
  • Ravindra Jadeja24-4-71-2
  • Ravichandran Ashwin26-3-65-3
74.6
0
Jadeja to Kumara, no run, shorter on the stumps, defended on the back foot
74.5
1
Jadeja to Perera, 1 run, flatter and slides in, squirted to square leg off the inside edge
74.4
0
Jadeja to Perera, no run, full on middle and leg, nudged to midwicket

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.