adminCOLOMBO. — Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin caused a dramatic Sri Lanka collapse as India completed a crushing 278-run victory in the second Test cricket in Colombo yesterday to level the three-match series.
Ashwin grabbed five for 42 as Sri Lanka, set an improbable victory target of 413 runs, were shot out for 134 in their second innings soon after lunch on the fifth day at the P. Sara Oval.
Leg-spinner Amit Mishra chipped in with three wickets as the hosts lost their last eight batsmen for 62 runs after resuming at 72-2, giving Virat Kohli his first win as captain in his fifth Test as leader.
A brief spell of heavy rain forced an early lunch with nine wickets down, but the weather cleared for India to finish the match in the second over after the resumption. The defeat denied retiring Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara a fairytale farewell in his last international match. The left-hander was dismissed for 18 on Sunday.
India’s emphatic win set the stage for an intriguing finale to the series when the third and final Test starts at the Sinhalese sports club in the Sri Lankan capital on Friday.
Kohli said he was delighted at his first win as captain after coming close twice against Australia in Adelaide and against Sri Lanka in the first Test of the current series.
“We had played really good cricket in both those Tests as well and if we had done that for one more session there, two more wins would have been ours,” he said. — AFP.
Online Reporter