Sonal Dinusha shone through at the SSC in Colombo as he registered a century in each innings to keep Sri Lanka in the game and in the end help them to save the Test match against India. Sonal Dinusha scored a hundred in the first innings and then followed it up with an unbeaten ton batting with the tail as Sri Lanka showed great resistance to deny India at SSC in Colombo.
India who won the series 1-0 will be disappointed in not finishing the job and losing out on crucial WTC points that were on offer. They were on the front foot throughout and deserved the series win, but it is a bitter sweet moment for Shubman Gill and his men. After controlling most parts, they couldn’t get the win. Rain did not save Sri Lanka as we had an uninterrupted day, but Sri Lanka earned the draw and bowled out with their heads held high.
Devdutt Padikkal & Dhruv Jurel’s tons power India to 503/9 declared in 138 overs.
Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul came out to open the batting for India while Asitha Fernando had the ball in hand for Sri Lanka. The Indians got off to a steady start as the opening duo put on 37 runs for the first wicket before KL Rahul gifted his wicket away by playing away from the body and getting the outside edge through to the keeper Niroshan Dickwella who made no mistake as Lahiru Kumara picked up his first wicket. Devdutt Padikkal came out to bat next.
The duo tried to forge another partnership with Jaiswal looking fluent and good out there. Padikkal took his time getting adjusted to the crease as the duo put on 29 runs for the second wicket before Jaiswal dragged one onto the stumps for 45 off 53 balls with 9 fours to his name to Asitha Fernando. Captain Shubman Gill came out to bat next. Gill and Padikkal joined forces and took India forward with a big partnership.
The duo complemented each other well and were in the zone with both completing their fifties with Padikkal hungry for more. Padikkal and Gill put on an important partnership to keep India ahead in the game as they put on 120 for the third wicket before Gill fell for 50 off 108 balls with 6 fours to his name to Asitha Fernando as Dickwella took the catch on the rebound. Keeper batter Rishabh Pant came out to bat next.
Pant and Padikkal added about 21 runs between them before Pant batting on 3* was struck on the hand and retired hurt due to excessive pain. Ravindra Jadeja replaced him. Paddikkal and Jadeja then formed a partnership as the southpaw scored his second Test ton and second in the series. The duo of Jadeja and Padikkal put on 74 runs between them before Padikkal fell for 117 off 193 balls with 12 fours to his name Keshara Nuwantha who cleaned him up. Dhruv Jurel came out to bat next.
Jurel and Jadeja added 15 runs to the score before Jadeja fell for 43 off 83 balls with 4 fours to his name to Asitha Fernando who cleaned him up again. Saransh Jain came out to bat next and added 11 runs to the score before Jain was dismissed by Asitha Fernando for 6 off 8 balls with one four to his name. Rishabh Pant returned to the crease to join Jurel in the middle. The duo then got together and took the game away from Sri Lanka. Jurel was solid as a rock while Pant was being Pant playing extraordinary shots.
The duo got together and added 112 for the 7th wicket as both completed their half-centuries and looked good for more. Pant eventually played one shot too many and gave his wicket away for 63 off 89 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Nuwantha. Manav Suthar came out to bat next. Suthar played a steady innings and supported Jurel as much as he could. The duo of Jurel and Suthar added 39 runs for the 8th wicket before Suthar was dismissed for 18 off 51 balls with 2 fours to his name to Prabath Jayasuriya.
Mohammed Siraj came out to bat next and played blocking cricket as he wanted Jurel to get to his ton. Jurel eventually got to his ton, his second Test ton and first away from home. Siraj and Jurel added 31 runs for the 9th wicket before Siraj went for the heave and was plumb LBW for 3 off 29 balls to Prabath Jayasuriya. Prasidh Krishna came out to bat next. Jurel played his shots while Krishna managed to hit a beautiful cover drive to get off the mark with a boundary.
India reached 503/9 in 138 overs when Shubman Gill declared the innings. Jurel remained unbeaten on 115 off 177 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes to his name while Krishna was unbeaten on 4 off 7 balls with one four to his name. 21 extras conceded by Sri Lanka.
Asitha Fernando was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/106 in 29 overs. Prabath Jayasuriya finished with 2/132 in 42 overs. Keshara Nuwantha finished with 2/154 in 38 overs. Lahiru Kumara finished with 1/68 in 20 overs. Sonal Dinusha bowled 3 overs for 8 runs. Dhananjaya de Silva finished with 2 overs for 8 runs. Kamil Mishara bowled 4 overs for 16 runs. Now, it was Sri Lanka’s turn to bat in their first innings.
Sonal Dinusha’s majestic ton & Pasindu Sooriyabandara’s 80 helped Sri Lanka post 290 in 89.4 overs
Lahiru Udara and Kamil Mishara came out to open the batting for Sri Lanka while Mohammed Siraj had the new ball in hand for India. India struck early as Sri Lanka’s opening woes continued as Udara fell for 1 off 6 balls with the score also on 1 to Prasidh Krishna. Night watchman Prabath Jayasuriya came out to bat next. The duo added 7 runs for the second wicket before Jayasuriya fell for 2 off 7 balls LBW to Manav Suthar. Pasindu Sooriyabandara came out to bat next.
Mishara and Sooriyabandara tried to forge some sort of a partnership and put on 27 runs for the third wicket before Mishara fell for 19 off 25 balls with 3 fours to his name to Prasidh Krishna. Kamindu Mendis came out to bat next. Kamindu and Sooriyabandara forged another important partnership as Kamindu got a start and so did Sooriyabandara. The duo put on an 87-run crucial stand for the 4th wicket before Kamindu fell for 32 off 58 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name to Krishna.
Captain Dhananjaya de Silva came out to bat next and played a couple of delectable shots. De Silva and Sooriyabandara added 15 runs for the 5th wicket before DDS fell for 8 off 14 balls with 2 fours to his name to Manav Suthar as Sri Lanka were 137/5 at one stage. Sonal Dinusha came out to bat next. Dinusha and Sooriyabandara tried to forge some sort of a partnership and added 34 runs for the 6th wicket before Sooriyabandara fell for 80 off 133 balls with 9 fours to his name to Ravindra Jadeja who cleaned him up.
Keeper batter Niroshan Dickwella came out to bat next. Just two runs were added to the tally before Dickwella fell for a bronze duck to Mohammed Siraj as Sri Lanka were 173/7 in the 46th over. Keshara Nuwantha came out to bat for Sri Lanka and alongside Dinusha showed great resilience and character out in the middle to defy the Indians. The duo put on 57 runs and consumed a lot of balls before Nuwantha was finally dismissed for 18 off 74 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name to Suthar.
Lahiru Kumara came out to bat next and someone who is known for his big hits showed resilience out there to support Sonal Dinusha who raced past 50 and got closer to his ton as well. Kumara consumed a lot of balls but was dogged in defence. Dinusha meanwhile completed his second Test ton and second in three innings for him. The duo frustrated India as they put on 58 runs for the 9th wicket before Kumara gave his wicket away for 12 off 58 balls with 2 fours to his name to debutant Saransh Jain.
Asitha Fernando came out to bat next and got off the mark soon after. Just two runs were added to the score before the centurion Dinusha fell for 103 off 162 balls with 8 fours and 3 sixes to his name to Jain who got his second wicket as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 290 in 89.4 overs. Asitha was unbeaten on 1 off 4 balls. 14 extras given by India.
It was a hard toil for the Indian bowlers. Prasidh Krishna was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/52 in 16 overs. Manav Suthar finished with 3/85 in 22 overs. Saransh Jain on debut finished the first innings with 2/69 in 20.4 overs. Mohammed Siraj finished the innings with 1/33 in 11 overs. Ravindra Jadeja finished with 1/45 in 20 overs. With the deficit being 213, and with weather around, India decided to enforce the follow-on to try and get a result. So, it was time for Sri Lanka’s turn to bat again.
Sonal Dinusha’s extraordinary unbeaten ton & Pasindu Sooriyabandara’s gritty 92 denies India the win and clean sweep of the series
Lahiru Udara and Kamil Mishara came out to open the batting for Sri Lanka again as Prasidh Krishna had the new ball in hand for India. Sri Lana’s opening woes continued as the openers could add 5 runs for the first wicket before Udara fell for 3 off 15 balls. Pasindu Sooriyabandara came out to bat next. Kamil Mishara and Sooriyabandara got together and forged a solid stand to bring the side back on track. The duo added 58 runs for the second wicket before Mishara after getting a start fell for 32 off 39 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name to Ravindra Jadeja.
Kamindu Mendis came out to bat next. The duo of Sooriyabandara and Mendis took the game to India and attacked the spinners head on especially Suthar as India were found wanting and were clueless in the middle. Sooriyabandara looked good while Kamindu grew in confidence and completed their half-centuries. While these two were batting, India feared that things can really go awry and it was with Shubman Gill bereft of ideas. The duo added 115 runs for the third wicket before Kamindu fell for 55 off 92 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes to his name to Krishna by giving it away.
Captain Dhananjaya de Silva came out to bat next and got a start to his innings yet again. The duo added 31 runs for the 4th wicket before Dhananjaya fell for 23 off 44 balls with one four and one six to his name to Manav Suthar. Sonal Dinusha came out to bat next. Just 3 runs were added to the total before Sooriyabandara was dismissed for 92 off 173 balls with 10 fours and one six to his name to Suthar yet again as he fell agonizingly short of his maiden ton.
Keeper batter Niroshan Dickwella came out to bat next. Just 6 runs were added to the score before Dickwella fell for 6 off 12 balls with one four to his name to Saransh Jain. Sri Lanka were 218/6 at this stage when Keshara Nuwantha joined Dinusha in the middle and India had their tails up. What followed after that on Day 5 was something incredible to witness. The duo first played out Day 4 and then started positively on Day 5.
They complemented each other really well out there. They blocked a lot of balls and took time out of the game and played out overs as well. They scored the runs with Nuwantha getting close to a half-century and Dinusha being untroubled by the Indian bowlers. The duo put on 112 priceless runs for the 7th wicket before Nuwantha fell for 46 off 150 balls with 4 fours to his name to Suthar. Prabatha Jayasuriya came out to bat next.
Jayasuriya also showed great defense out there and although may not have scored much hung in there as much as he could. The duo of Dinusha and Jayasuriya added 25 runs for the 8th wicket to take the score past 350 before Jayasuriya fell for 2 off 28 balls to Jadeja. Lahiru Kumara came out to bat next and much like the first innings showed great character and resilience to hang in there.
Kumara blocked it while Dinusha played his natural game and then completed a memorable century in each innings to show his class. India were clueless with the ball against the tail and Gill was clueless as captain as well. Kumara stayed there for 90 balls i.e. 15 overs braving the Indian attack while Dinusha was at his best. The duo took the score past 400 and added 47 for the 9th wicket before Kumara fell for 12 off 90 balls with one four to his name to Jadeja.
Asitha Fernando came out to bat next and he too blocked it out for 24 balls. But Asitha was not dismissed at all by India this series and that remained constant. Dinusha played his shots towards the end and got some good runs when India bowled their part-timers as everyone rolled their arms over in the end we can say. The duo added 27 unbeaten runs for the 10th wicket to take Sri Lanka to 429/9 in 154 overs when play was called off with 15 overs left as the match ended in a draw.
Dinusha remained unbeaten on 133 off 264 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes to his name while Fernando remained unbeaten on 0 off 24 balls. 25 extras given by India. It was a hard toil for the Indian bowlers and found little joy in the end. Ravindra Jadeja finished with 3/94 in 38.3 overs. Manav Suthar finished with 3/121 in 41 overs. Saransh Jain finished with 1/98 in 37 overs. Mohammed Siraj finished with 1/26 in 15 overs. Prasidh Krishna finished with 1/57 in 18.3 overs. Captain Shubman Gill bowled 2 overs for 8 runs. Yashasvi Jaiswal bowled an over for 9 runs. Dhruv Jurel bowled an over for 1 run.
Sri Lanka’s fight ensures that they hold onto their place in the #WTC27 standings 👊
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— ICC (@ICC) August 27, 2026
So, the Test match ended in an honourable draw. India won the 2-match series 1-0. Sonal Dinusha was awarded the Player of the Match while Devdutt Padikkal was awarded the Player of the Series.
What went wrong for India
With that, the 2-match Test series between India and Sri Lanka came to an end with the deserving team winning the series. But loads of positives for Sri Lanka to take home from this series defeat for them. India stays in 5th place and fail to move upwards to 4th thanks to this draw. India will next play Test Cricket in November-December in New Zealand for 2 Tests while Sri Lanka has some limited overs cricket coming up. The same can be said of India.
Let’s see how things unfold from here for both teams in their respective upcoming assignments in limited overs cricket.
Also Read: SL vs IND: Pasindu Sooriyabandara’s Stupendous Knock Leads Sri Lanka’s Fightback