Left-arm spinner and newcomer Manav Suthar shone through yet again as he picked up a 10-wicket haul, which went a long way in helping India win the Test match by 165 runs and take a 1-0 lead in the series. Manav Suthar, who made his Test debut against Afghanistan, started with a 6-wicket haul there and followed up with another impressive display in Galle. Devdutt Padikkal shone with the bat and was adjudged the Player of the Match as India deserved the win, as they were ahead for most of the Test match.
Sri Lanka had their moments with Sonal Dinusha shining through with a century and 84 in two innings. Keshara Nuwantha bowled decently and so did Prabath Jayasuriya, while Niroshan Dickwella played well in the first innings. But their top order failed both times, losing 4-5 wickets under 100 runs. India deserved the win and got a win in their 600th Test match to collect important WTC points to keep their hopes alive.
Devdutt Padikkal’s maiden Test ton powered India to 462 in 116.4 overs
Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul came out to open for India while Asitha Fernando had the ball in hand for Sri Lanka. The Indian openers began positively with Jaiswal going great guns and was the dominant partner in the partnership. The opening duo put on 47 for the first wicket before, against the run of play, Jaiswal was run out for 32 off 37 balls with 5 fours to his name as both batters were at the same end. Devdutt Padikkal came out to bat next.
Padikkal and KL Rahul got together and complemented each other really well. Both completed their fifties and were looking really good out there. The duo put on 150 for the second wicket with Rahul reaching 77 runs before cramps got the better of him and he walked back to the hut. Captain Shubman Gill walked out to bat next. Padikkal soon completed his maiden Test ton. Gill got a little bit of a start. The duo put on 39 before Gill fell for 16 off 28 balls with 2 fours to his name, giving his wicket away to Prabath Jayasuriya. Keeper batter Rishabh Pant came out to bat next.
Pant started as he does and played some audacious shots. Padikkal looked good and was a class apart from the other batters. The duo put on 71 before Pant fell for 39 off 62 balls with 4 fours and one six to his name to Keshara Nuwantha. KL Rahul came back to resume his innings. Rahul hit a boundary on his return. Rahul and Padikkal added 12 runs to the score before Rahul fell for 82 off 175 balls with 10 fours and one six to his name.
Dhruv Jurel came out to bat to join Pant in the middle. Padikkal and Jurel formed another partnership as they added 38 runs in quick time before the southpaw fell for 167 off 230 balls with 15 fours and one six to his name to Prabath Jayasuriya as he ran past one. Ravindra Jadeja came out to bat next and tried to play himself in. Jadeja and Jurel added 20 runs to the score before Jadeja fell for 13 off 25 balls with one four to his name to Nuwantha. Manav Suthar came out to bat next.
Suthar looked good out in the middle and added handy runs down the order alongside Jurel, who got some much-needed runs and a half-century under his belt. Jurel and Suthar added 55 runs between them before Jurel fell for 51 off 68 balls with 4 fours and a maximum to his name to Jayasuriya as Dhananjaya de Silva took a spectacular catch at slip. Mohammed Siraj came out to bat and hit a big hit for the maximum. The duo put on 15 runs between them before Siraj fell for 11 off 15 balls with a maximum to his name to Asitha Fernando.
Kuldeep Yadav came out to bat next. Suthar soon fell for 24 off 43 balls with 2 fours to his name to Jayasuriya. Prasidh Krishna came out to bat next. Kuldeep added valuable runs with Krishna for the last wicket. They added 15 runs for the final wicket before Krishna fell for 2 off 7 balls to Fernando. Kuldeep was unbeaten on 13 off 14 balls with 2 fours to his name as India were bowled out for 462 in 116.4 overs. 12 extras given by the fielding side.
For Sri Lanka, it was a hard toil for the bowlers. Prabath Jayasuriya was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/109 in 39 overs. Keshara Nuwantha, on debut, finished with 3/175 in 39 overs. Asitha Fernando finished with 2/63 in 17.4 overs. There was one run out in the innings. Lahiru Kumara finished with 0/76 in 13 overs. Dhananjaya de Silva, the captain, finished with 0/15 in 4 overs. Sonal Dinusha finished with 0/17 in 4 overs. Now, it was the turn of Sri Lanka’s first innings.
Manav Suthar’s 4-wicket haul limits Sri Lanka to 284 in 79.4 overs.Â
Nishan Madushka and Lahiru Udara came out to open the batting for Sri Lanka in their first innings while Mohammed Siraj had the ball in hand for India. Siraj gave India the perfect start as off the second ball of the innings he removed Madushka for a golden duck. Dinesh Chandimal came out to bat next. Chandimal and Udara tried to forge a partnership, with Udara looking more fluent. The duo added 27 for the second wicket before Chandimal fell for 4 off 16 balls to Manav Suthar.
Kamindu Mendis came out to bat next. Kamindu struck a boundary and a maximum while Udara was off to a start. The duo put on 26 runs for the third wicket and crossed the team’s 50-run mark before Udara fell for 27 off 44 balls with 6 fours to his name to Suthar yet again. Captain Dhananjaya de Silva came out to bat next. Just 6 runs were added to the score before Kamindu fell for 14 off 25 balls with 1 four and 1 six to his name to Kuldeep Yadav as Gill pulled out a stunner at short extra cover.
Sonal Dinusha came out to bat next. De Silva and Dinusha tried to forge a partnership to rebuild proceedings and added 31 runs for the 5th wicket before the skipper de Silva fell for 21 off 41 balls with 4 fours to his name to Ravindra Jadeja as Sri Lanka were 90/5 at this stage. Keeper batter Niroshan Dickwella came out to bat next. Dickwella and Dinusha then led Sri Lanka’s fightback in the first innings.
Dickwella was the aggressor of the two and was given a reprieve on 20 by KL Rahul at slip off Suthar. The duo defied India through a whole afternoon session on Day 3. Both got to their fifties and were nearing their tons. The duo put on 146 for the sixth wicket with Dickwella dominating things and Sonal keeping it going at the other end. Dickwella it is who finally fell for 80 off 115 balls with 7 fours to his name to Prasidh Krishna. Keshara Nuwantha came out to bat next.
Nuwantha hung about for a while and added 7 runs for the 7th wicket before the youngster fell for 2 off 18 balls to Jadeja, who got his 350th Test wicket as well. Prabath Jayasuriya came out to bat next and showed great resilience out there. He blocked and then played a few shots and helped Dinusha complete his maiden Test ton. The duo put on 31 runs for the 8th wicket before Jayasuriya gave it away for 10 off 43 balls with 2 fours to his name to Suthar. Lahiru Kumara came out to bat next.
The score remained the same when Dinusha fell for 100 off 168 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes to his name, LBW to Jadeja. Asitha Fernando came out to bat next. Kumara used the long handle and hit a maximum and a boundary before being stumped off Suthar for 10 off 5 balls with one four and one six to his name. Asitha remained unbeaten on 0 off 5 balls as Sri Lanka finished with 284 in 79.4 overs. 16 extras given by the fielding side.
Manav Suthar was the pick of the bowlers for India with figures of 4/76 in 21.4 overs. Ravindra Jadeja helped him well with 3/57 in 21 overs. Mohammed Siraj finished with 1/29 in 9 overs. Prasidh Krishna finished with 1/47 in 14 overs. Kuldeep Yadav finished with 1/65 in 14 overs. This meant India had a first-innings lead of 178 runs and then came out to bat in their second innings at the start of Day 4.
Rishabh Pant stars with a half-century; Asitha Fernando’s 4-wicket haul skittles India out for 193 in 48.5 overs
With a lead of 178 runs, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul came out to open the batting for India while Asitha Fernando had the ball in hand for Sri Lanka. Asitha gave Sri Lanka a dream start as he removed Jaiswal for a golden duck. Devdutt Padikkal came out to bat next and applied himself to continue from where he left off in the first innings. The duo of Rahul and Padikkal looked at ease and put on 65 for the second wicket before Rahul fell for 35 off 47 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Prabath Jayasuriya.
Captain Shubman Gill came out to bat next. Padikkal and Gill added 16 runs for the third wicket before Gill fell for 8 off 20 balls with one four to his name to Jayasuriya. Keeper batter Rishabh Pant came out to bat next. Pant and Padikkal tried to forge a stand and added 30 runs for the 4th wicket before Padikkal fell for 44 off 75 balls with 6 fours to his name. Dhruv Jurel came out to bat next.
Pant was in his element and back to his best as he played a crucial hand for India. Pant and Jurel added 9 runs to the tally before Jurel fell for 7 off 15 balls with one four to his name to Asitha Fernando. Ravindra Jadeja came out to bat next and played a supporting act to Pant. Pant went ballistic and completed his half-century in no time as India went on to add quick runs. Jadeja was a mute spectator at the other end as they added 54 runs for the 6th wicket before Pant departed for 66 off 69 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Lahiru Kumara.
Manav Suthar came out to bat next to join Jadeja at the crease. Just 5 runs were added to the score before Jadeja fell for 9 off 19 balls to Kumara. Kuldeep Yadav came out to bat next. Suthar and Kuldeep added 9 runs to the score before Suthar fell for 9 off 25 balls with one four to his name to Asitha Fernando. Mohammed Siraj came out to bat next.
Just 2 runs were added to the score before Kuldeep fell for 5 off 10 balls to Jayasuriya. Prasidh Krishna came out to bat to join Siraj in the middle. The last wicket could muster 3 runs before Krishna fell for 2 off 7 balls to Asitha. Siraj remained unbeaten on 2 off 6 balls as India were bowled out for 193 in 48.5 overs. Just 6 extras were given by the fielding side.
Sri Lanka bowled well in this second innings, with Asitha Fernando leading the way with figures of 4/31 in 8 overs. Prabath Jayasuriya finished with 3/43 in 11 overs. Lahiru Kumara finished with 2/28 in 5 overs. Keshara Nuwantha finished with 1/86 in 23 overs. Captain Dhananjaya de Silva finished with 0/4 in 1 over. This meant that the target for Sri Lanka to win this match was 372 runs, which would have been a record chase at Galle batting last.
Manav Suthar’s 6-wicket haul seals the deal for India as they go 1-0 up in the 2-match series
Chasing 372 for the win, Nishan Madushka and Lahiru Udara came out to bat for Sri Lanka while Mohammed Siraj had the new ball in hand for India. The openers started carefully and played out almost 7 overs to put on 13 for the first wicket before Madushka fell for 6 off 27 balls to Siraj. Concussion substitute Pasindu Sooriyabandara came out to bat at 3 in place of Dinesh Chandimal, who was ruled out due to concussion. Just one run was added to the total before the debutant Sooriyabandara fell for a golden duck to Manav Suthar.
Kamindu Mendis came out to bat next. Just 7 runs were added to the total before Mendis fell for 2 off 12 balls to Prasidh Krishna. Captain Dhananjaya de Silva came out to bat next. Udara looked decent out there and added 26 runs for the 4th wicket before he fell for 16 off 58 balls with one four to his name to Suthar. Sonal Dinusha came out to bat next.
Things could have been worse for Sri Lanka, but Jadeja got rid of de Silva, but he overstepped to give the Lankan captain a life. The duo of DDS and Dinusha then led the fightback for Sri Lanka and showed some great resilience out there past Day 4 and into Day 5. Both players crossed their respective 50s. The duo put on a brave partnership of 95 runs for the 5th wicket before de Silva finally fell for 59 off 151 balls with 7 fours to his name to Jadeja. Keeper batter Niroshan Dickwella came out to bat next.
Dickwella and Dinusha added 14 runs for the 6th wicket before Dickwella fell for 10 off 17 balls with one four to his name to Krishna. Keshara Nuwantha came out to bat next and showed some great fight out there, showing resilience in defence and attack as well from time to time. Dinusha looked set for a big score again. The duo added 43 runs for the 7th wicket before Dinusha fell for a well-made 84 off 128 balls with 8 fours and one six to his name to Suthar, who gave India a timely breakthrough.
Prabath Jayasuriya came out to bat next and was cleaned up first ball as Suthar had two in two balls. Lahiru Kumara came out to bat next and survived the hat-trick ball. Soon, Suthar got another to get 3 in the over and complete his 5-wicket haul, his second in his career, as he dismissed Kumara for 0 off 4 balls, caught behind. Asitha Fernando came out to bat next and survived a ball. Nuwantha hit a boundary as well to take the score past 200.
The last-wicket pair added 7 runs to the tally before Suthar finished things off by cleaning up Nuwantha for 20 off 69 balls with 3 fours to his name as Suthar finished with 6 wickets. Fernando remained unbeaten on 0 off 1 ball as Sri Lanka finished with 206 in 77.4 overs. 9 extras were given by India.
Manav Suthar was the pick of the bowlers for India with figures of 6/55 in 23.4 overs. Prasidh Krishna finished with 2/16 in 10 overs. Mohammed Siraj finished with 1/15 in 9 overs. Ravindra Jadeja finished with 1/71 in 23 overs. Kuldeep Yadav finished with 0/38 in 11 overs. Devdutt Padikkal bowled an over for 5 runs. So, India wins the first Test match by 165 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the 2-match series and get crucial WTC points. Devdutt Padikkal, for his 211 runs across two innings, was awarded the Player of the Match award.
What Lies Ahead
So, India are 1-0 up after the first Test and will look to seal the deal 2-0 when the action shifts from Galle to Colombo. The action will resume on Sunday, 23rd August 2026 at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. Sri Lanka have injury issues and form as well to worry about. India have fewer things to worry about at this stage. Let’s see how things pan out in Colombo on Sunday.
Also Read: SL VS IND: Manav Suthar’s Late Strikes Keep India In Driving Seat