Left-arm spinner Manav Suthar struck twice in the final session as India tightened the screws on Sri Lanka. Manav Suthar showed tremendous talent at Galle and has helped India stay ahead. This despite, a spirited fightback by Sri Lanka early on as they chipped away at the wickets to keep India under 200. But that massive first innings lead helped India build a huge target for the Lankans.
For India, Rishabh Pant scored 66 while Devdutt Padikkal played well for his 44. But the lower middle order was blown away and collapsed to a degree as Asitha Fernando picked up 4 wickets while Prabath Jayasuriya picked up 3 wickets. The hosts showed a lot of spirit and will need more of it alongside rain to save this Test match. India should wrap this up weather permitting on Day 5.
Devdutt Padikkal shines with 44 even as Sri Lanka chip away at the wickets in the morning session
With a first innings lead of 178 runs, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul came out to bat for India while Asitha Fernando had the ball in hand for Sri Lanka. Asitha struck early as he managed to find the outside edge of Jaiswal through to the keeper as Jaiswal fell for a bronze duck. Devdutt Padikkal came out to bat next and got off the mark with a handsome drive through the covers. Keshara Nuwantha shared the attack from the other end as Padikkal delightfully creamed it through covers for a boundary.
Asitha continued and overstepped as well. Nuwantha continued and bowled a decent over as Chandimal in the deep hurt his neck and left the field holding it before being taken to the hospital for scans. Fernando overstepped again but bowled a good over. Nuwantha bowled a tight over. Prabath Jayasuriya came into the attack next and bowled a decent first over as India’s lead touched 200 runs.
Nuwantha continued as Padikkal swept it away down on one knee to the vacant fine leg fence for a boundary. Jayasuriya continued as Rahul took him on and went down the ground over long-off for the maximum. Nuwantha continued as Rahul reverse swept the ball through deep third man for a boundary. Jayasuriya continued as Rahul lofted it straight down the ground for the maximum. KL was given OUT LBW off the next ball, but on Padikkal’s insistence, he challenged it and got the decision overturned as extra bounce saved the batter.
Nuwantha continued and bowled a maiden. Jayasuriya continued as Rahul punched the ball back past backward point for a triple as the 50 came up for India and of the partnership as well. Nuwantha continued as Padikkal slammed it over the bowler’s head for the boundary. India were 59/1 in 14 overs when Drinks was taken in the morning session with a lead of 237 runs.
Jayasuriya continued as Rahul slog swept it along the ground for a boundary to deep midwicket. Jayasuriya struck next ball as Rahul went for the big one and was caught in the deep as he fell for 35 off 47 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name. Captain Shubman Gill came out to bat next. Nuwantha continued as Gill whipped it away between midwicket and long-on for a boundary. The lead crossed 250 for India. Jayasuriya continued as Padikkal cut the ball in front of square for a boundary.
Nuwantha continued and bowled a tight over. Jayasuriya bowled a probing over. Nuwantha too kept it tight. Jayasuriya struck again as he removed captain Gill for 8 off 20 balls with one four to his name LBW. Gill reviewed the call and burnt it in the process. Keeper batter Rishabh Pant came out to bat and got off the mark straightaway. Nuwantha continued and bowled a tight over. Jayasuriya bowled another probing over.
Nuwantha continued as Padikkal swept it away along the ground square of the wicket for a boundary. Captain Dhananjaya de Silva came into the attack next. He bowled a decent first over. Nuwantha continued as Pant reverse swept it through backward point for a boundary as the 100 came up for India in 25.5 overs. Lahiru Kumara came into the attack for the first time this innings and he was welcomed by Pant as he danced down the track and launched it over long-off for the maximum.
Nuwantha continued and struck for Sri Lanka as he removed Padikkal for 44 off 75 balls with 6 fours to his name trapped right in front. Padikkal reviewed in hope and burnt another review for India. Dhruv Jurel came out to bat next. He got off the mark soon. Jayasuriya came to bowl the last over before Lunch as Jurel pulled it through midwicket for a boundary. India reached 116/4 in 29 overs with Pant unbeaten on 21 off 22 balls alongside Jurel unbeaten on 5 off 9 balls. India led by 294 runs with 6 wickets in hand at Lunch on Day 4.
Rishabh Pant shines with breath-taking half-century even as Sri Lanka led by Asitha Fernando chip away at the wickets to bowl India out for 193 in the afternoon session
Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel came out to resume proceedings for India while Keshara Nuwantha had the ball in hand for Sri Lanka. Nuwantha bowled a decent first over. Asitha Fernando had the ball in hand from the other end. Jurel was then caught down the leg side off Asitha even as the umpire turned it down. Sri Lanka challenged the decision and got the decision overturned in their favour. Ravindra Jadeja came out to bat next. Nuwantha continued and bowled a maiden.
Jadeja survived a run out chance as the throw missed at the bowler’s end. The lead touched 300 now. Fernando conceded a couple of wides as well. Nuwantha continued as Pant got down on one knee and swept it past deep square leg for a boundary. Pant was then dropped by captain Dhananjaya de Silva at slip of Nuwantha, a tough chance one must admit. Fernando continued as Pant swatted it down the ground past mid-off for a boundary. Fernando overstepped as well.
Nuwantha continued as Pant got down on one knee and reverse swept it past the diving backward point fielder for a boundary. Pant took on Nuwantha with a pull past deep midwicket for a boundary before reverse sweeping it past running backward point for a boundary. Lahiru Kumara returned to the attack as Pant went bang with a swivel pull over deep fine leg for the maximum as he got to his 20th Test fifty in 53 balls and reached 100 sixes in Test cricket. Nuwantha continued and bowled a tight over.
Kumara continued as Pant whacked it away to swat it over extra cover for a boundary. Pant took on Kumara again as he swivel pulled it away past fine leg for a boundary. The 50-run stand came up between Pant and Jadeja. The lead crossed 350 runs for India. Kumara continued and had the last laugh as he dismissed Pant for 66 off 69 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes to his name as he tried to pull and get a top edge to the keeper. Drinks was taken at this stage with Manav Suthar coming out to bat next.
Suthar got off the mark soon. Nuwantha continued and bowled a decent over. Kumara continued and got rid of Jadeja for 9 off 19 balls as the pull shot went to deep backward square leg where Sooriyabandara took a stunner tumbling onto the ground. Kuldeep Yadav came out to bat next. Nuwantha bowled a maiden. Asitha Fernando returned and bowled a tight over. Nuwantha continued as Suthar stepped out and thumped it away over the bowler’s head for a boundary.
Fernando continued as he got rid of Manav Suthar for 9 off 25 balls with one four to his name as the outside edge was taken by Dickwella. Mohammed Siraj came out to bat next and got off the mark as well. Then, we got to know that Dinesh Chandimal has suffered from concussion and will be replaced in the Lankan XI by Pasindu Sooriyabandara making his Test debut. Jayasuriya continued and got the outside edge of Kuldeep Yadav to de Silva at first slip for 5 off 10 balls.
Prasidh Krishna came out to bat next. He got off the mark as well. Fernando continued and got his 4th wicket and the last Indian wicket to fall as Krishna went for the pull shot and was holed out at mid-on by Kumara. Krishna fell for 2 off 7 balls. Siraj remained unbeaten on 2 off 6 balls as India were bowled out for 193 in 48.5 overs. 6 extras given by Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka bowled well with Asitha Fernando being the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/31 in 8.5 overs. Prabath Jayasuriya bowled well for his 3/43 in 11 overs. Lahiru Kumara chipped in with 2/28 in 5 overs. Keshara Nuwantha finished with 1/86 in 23 overs. Dhananjaya de Silva the captain bowled an over for 4 runs. The target for Sri Lanka was 372 runs which would be a record chase at Galle. Tea was taken on Day 4 with the Indian innings coming to a close.
Manav Suthar’s double strike rocks Sri Lanka as India inch closer to the win at the end of Day 4
We had a brief rain delay as the passing shower meant we started at 3:30 PM IST. Chasing 372 for the win, Nishan Madushka and Lahiru Udara came out to open the batting for Sri Lanka while Mohammed Siraj had the new ball in hand for India. Siraj started with a tight over. Manav Suthar had the ball in hand from the other end. He bowled a tight over. Siraj continued as Madushka punched the ball through cover point for a triple. Suthar continued and bowled a quiet over.
Siraj continued and overstepped as well. Suthar continued and bowled a quiet over. Siraj continued and finally provided the breakthrough for India as he removed Madushka for 6 off 27 balls as he went for the pull shot and got a top edge towards deep fine leg where Krishna took a good running catch. Pasindu Sooriyabandara came out to bat as a concussion replacement. Suthar struck for India as he removed Sooriyabandara first ball for a golden duck LBW. The umpire gave it NOT OUT. Gill reviewed and got the decision overturned in their favour. Kamindu Mendis came out to bat next.
Siraj continued as Udara leant it through the covers for a boundary. India burnt a review against Udara off Siraj for caught behind. Suthar bowled a decent over. Prasidh Krishna came into the attack next. He struck for India in the first over as he removed Kamindu for 2 off 12 balls as the outside edge carried to KL Rahul at first slip. Captain Dhananjaya de Silva came out to bat next.
Ravindra Jadeja came into the attack next. He bowled a good first over. Krishna continued and bowled a good over. Jadeja continued and overstepped. de Silva survived a close LBW call as umpire’s call saved the batter. Sri Lanka were 33/3 in 15 overs when Drinks was taken in the final session of play. Jadeja continued and should have got rid of de Silva when he edged it to Rahul. But Jadeja overstepped as the Sri Lankan captain survived. Krishna continued and bowled a decent over.
Suthar returned as de Silva got down on one knee and swept it over square leg for a boundary. Krishna continued and bowled a maiden. Suthar bowled another tight over. Jadeja changed ends. He bowled a tight over. Suthar continued as de Silva got down and picked it up to sweep it to deep square leg for a boundary. Suthar struck for India as he removed Udara for 16 off 58 balls with one four to his name as Jurel took a terrific low catch at second slip. Sonal Dinusha came out to bat next and got off the mark as well.
Jadeja continued as de Silva got down and swept it away past deep midwicket for a boundary as 50 came up for Sri Lanka in 22.2 overs. Suthar continued and bowled a decent over. Jadeja continued as Dinusha swept it along the ground past deep midwicket for a boundary. India appealed against Dinusha and burnt it as there was no edge and ball tracking showed missing the stumps. They burnt another review.
Krishna returned to the attack and bowled a decent over. Suthar continued as Dinusha chipped it down the ground over the bowler’s head for a boundary. Jurel then got hit on the ankle shin and was down on the ground with severe pain. He left the field and Sarfaraz Khan came onto the field as a substitute. Kuldeep Yadav came into the attack for the first time in this innings. Dinusha got down and fetched the ball to sweep it along the ground to the deep square leg fence for a boundary.
Krishna bowled a quiet over as well. Kuldeep bowled a better over. Krishna continued and bowled a decent over. Kuldeep continued and bowled a decent over. Devdutt Padikkal came into the attack next. Padikkal bowled a short ball outside the off-stump as he went back and pulled it down to deep midwicket for a boundary. Sri Lanka reached 84/4 in 34 overs with de Silva unbeaten on 31 off 73 balls with 3 fours to his name alongside Dinusha unbeaten on 25 off 36 balls with 4 fours to his name. 4 extras given by India so far.
For India, Manav Suthar finished the day with 2/30 in 11 overs. Mohammed Siraj finished with 1/11 in 5 overs. Prasidh Krishna finished with 1/13 in 8 overs. Ravindra Jadeja bowled 6 overs for 16 runs. Kuldeep Yadav bowled 3 overs for 8 runs while Devdutt Padikkal finished with 0/5 in 1 overs. So, Sri Lanka needs a further 288 runs to win the match while India needs 6 wickets to win the match. Let’s see how the match pans out on Day 5.
What Lies Ahead on Day 5
For starters, we hope that the rain stays away and we get a full day’s play in at Galle. Assuming that it stays away for most part, India will fancy their chances taking the remaining 6 wickets and take a 1-0 lead in the 2-match series. Sri Lanka will fight hard, tooth and nail to fight and save the Test match. Rain can help them as well. Realistically, only two results are possible. India win or draw. Sri Lanka win looks far-fetched at this stage.
Let’s see how things pan out on the final day of the Test match. Can India deliver the knockout blow? Or will Sri Lanka dodge a bullet and cone back strong to save the Test match. Let’s see how this match and day pans out on 19th August, 2026.
Also Read: SL vs IND: Manav Suthar’s Spell in 1st Test Draws Praise from Ajay Jadeja