Player of the Match
Player of the Match
1867dThe Report by Sidharth Monga

Ashwin quickest to 300 wickets, India record joint-biggest win

Virat Kohli will go to South Africa without having lost a Test series as a captain after India took an unassailable 1-0 lead in the series with their joint-biggest Test win and Sri Lanka's biggest defeat

Match Centre

Statistics

Best performances - Batsmen

V Kohli
V Kohli
213(267) 17x4 - 2x6
Control %92%
  • Productive Shot
  • flick
  • 50 runs
  • 3x4 - 0x6
1 9 13 46 31 18 46 49
CA Pujara
143(362) 14x4 - 0x6
Control %94%
  • Productive Shot
  • flick
  • 42 runs
  • 3x4 - 0x6
3 6 23 19 30 7 21 34

Best performances - Bowlers

R Ashwin
R Ashwin
O17.3
M4
R63
W4
Eco3.60
RHB
OFFLEG
2W1W
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
1W
R Ashwin
R Ashwin
O28.1
M7
R67
W4
Eco2.37
RHB
OFFLEG
2W
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
2W

Scorer: M Venkat Raghav | Commentator: Alagappan Muthu

1.30 pm That's all we have for you from commentary. But do keep a weather eye on the horizon for post-match stories from the ground, and of course, India will be picking the squad for the tour of South Africa later today. We'll bring you the latest as the story develops. Until then, go on, get outta here.

Virat Kohli is the Man of the Match"The pitch was good to bat on. It was on the slower side, but there was nothing much happening from the pitch. I just wanted to bat the way I bat: get into good position and rotate strike and score quickly so our bowlers have time to bowl the opposition out. We will need that overseas so I was looking at doing that here as well. I always wanted to better myself in that aspect, scoring daddy hundreds, for the simple reason that the team benefits. When you lose concentration after a hundred, maybe two wickets can fall quickly. And a set batsman can play shots easier than a new batsman so I started thinking in that way and my fitness helps me bat for longer periods. Wonderfully well, Pujara we know, he's been very consistent. Vijay was playing after a while, he takes pride in playing Test cricket. I know it hurt him to be out and he came back really well. Rohit as well, making a strong case for himself in the future. He will always be there when we speak about combinations. We have a lot of Test cricket coming up. All the bowlers, Bhuvi has played a lot of cricket for India in the last few months. Ishant, Shami and Umesh, not so much. But they bowled a lot of overs in first-class cricket and they always say that's important for rhythm. And even on this pitch, they were excellent. Although the spinners did a good job for us, Ishant was the standout bowler. We would like to think we want to prepare for South Africa. That's why we asked for pitches with help for hte fast bowler.s This one deteriorated. Kolkata was the ideal wicket. There's not enough time in between to prepare so we have to use the time we have now for a big tour coming up"

"It was a good toss to win. Unfortunately, we were outplayed from the first day of the game. Our batting unit let us down again. You have to score at least 350 plus against India to win or even stay in it for five days," Dinesh Chandimal the Sri Lanka captain says. "Before we came here, we had a gameplan. Then we said to the guys, if you get a start, you have to bat long. But they scored only 50-60 runs and got out. Its unfortunate but I'm sure they will learn. Angelo is the one who is the most senior guy in the line-up. And if he is not scoring, our team goes down. As senior players you need to stand up and perform so the youngsters can follow. I'm sure he will stand up and make it count again. Our body language when we were bowling for three days, it was superb. We need to score more runs in the first innings and that's what we need to do in Delhi. ON this wicket, first three days was good to bat on. First innings total became a big factor. Our bowling unit did a really great job, but if there's no runs on the board, we can't do anything"

1.15 pm Out stats expert Gaurav Sundararaman chips in with: "32 wins for India in 2017 - Most they have won in a year going past the 31 wins they had in 2016. Next target is Australia's record of 38 wins in 2003. 7 more matches to go."

"Today was a bit funny in the morning," R Ashwin says. "We started off and the ball spun a little bit, it kept straight as well. Special mention to Ishant, he's bowled really well after coming back. The angular release also makes it difficult, changing the height of the release has also helped. And me and Jaddu bowl the right pace on these kinds of wickets. We are a bit more blessed than the other greats. We have technology to help. We have help with our fitness. So we shouldn't compare. The carrom ball was a good ball, I haven't bowled many of those in the last 24 months. I've worked on different releases for it and now that we are travelling, I think I needed that extra bit. It has been al longer break than I've been used to over the last few years. But I did have a good stint in Worcester and I learnt a lot of things. As you can see, I've worked on different loadings, different actions. It's also helped my patience, wickets haven't come quickly. I really hope I can go on to double these 300 wickets, I've only played 50 Tests. It's not easy bowling spin, it looks like you're just ambling up. But there's a lot behind it. We've bowled a lot of overs, me and Jaddu. And the break has helped, I'm a lot more fresher now comparatively."

If that's not enough, you can get a lot more of Ashwin in this comprehensive profile piece for The Cricket Monthly by Karthik Krishnaswamy. For those who cringe at 3000 words of text, here's a snappy little video debating whether Ashwin is already an all-time great

"The way Umesh and Shami have bowled, they deserved to get the chance before me," Ishant Sharma says of his time out of the Test side. "I think at the moment, that's what matters. The wickets column was always empty, so I needed to outthink the batsman. That's what I did here. Thanks to Basu sir, he's pushing everyone hard on fitness and Virat is setting the example. It's a pretty good competition among fast bowlers in India. We have to take wickets whenever we get the chance to perform. We have to be on our toes"

1 pm So India win by an innings and 239 runs, equalling their biggest win in Tests. The biggest factor that brought this result to the fore was Sri Lanka's batting - crumbling for 200 on the day on a batting pitch. India took the advantage there and never gave it away. M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli - three of their top four - made massive centuries. And their lead spinner R Ashwin finishes the Test off with 300 Test wickets, the now the quickest to the mark, on the same day as the previous record was set by Dennis Lillee.

49.3
W
Ashwin to Gamage, OUT, beats the outside edge and is it bowled? That's what is being reviewed because the bail has come off. And replays confirm that Ashwin has unleashed another carrom ball to become the fastest bowler in Test history to 300 Test wickets. This one perfectly pitched on leg stump, on a fuller length to draw the batsman forward, but not quite so much that he can get to the ball on the full. The angle in makes Gamage play inside the line. The turn ensures the rest.

PLS Gamage b Ashwin 0 (9m 9b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00

49.2
0
Ashwin to Gamage, no run, tosses it up on middle and off. Gamage plays it down well
49.1
0
Ashwin to Gamage, no run, carrom ball, pitching on leg stump, pinning Gamage on the front pad. Hasn't straightened enough for the lbw

Countdown(up?) to 300 again...

END OF OVER:
49 | (maiden) | SL: 166/9

  • Suranga Lakmal31 (42b)
  • Lahiru Gamage0 (6b)
  • Umesh Yadav9-2-30-2
  • Ravichandran Ashwin17-4-63-3

Rajesh Mahadesh: "Will Ashwin reach Murali's 800 test wickets? Murali achieved 300 wickets when he was 29 years old and Ashwin is 31 years old 1 shy of 300. Surely age is not on his side. To achieve that he needs to average 50 wickets a year for next 10 years."

48.6
0
Yadav to Lakmal, no run, shortish and outside off, Lakmal tries to punch through cover, but the ball cuts back in off the pitch and beats the inside edge
48.5
0
Yadav to Lakmal, no run, keeps out a good length ball on off stump
48.4
0
Yadav to Lakmal, no run, so close to off stump! It's a back of a length ball that hits the deck and veers in on the target. Lakmal, having set himself to cut, is so slow to bring his bat down

Bounty year for India

32

International wins for India in 2017, their most ever in a calendar year. They had won 31 in 2016

A year of losses for SL

7

Tests lost by SL in 2017, which equals the most defeats for them in a calendar year; they had also lost 7 in 2015

Top-order collapses

4

Number of consecutive second innings in which Sri Lanka have been 5 down for less than 100 - twice v Pakistan in the UAE, and twice in this series

Four tons in an innings

3

Instances of four centuries in an innings for India. Before this game, they had achieved this against SA in Kolkata, 2010, and v Bangladesh in Mirpur, 2007

Double the fun

5

Double-hundreds for Kohli as captain, which equals Brian Lara's record. Bradman, Clarke and Graeme Smith had four each

Hundreds galore

5

Instances of at least three hundreds by India's top 4 in a Test innings. Previous instance was also v SL, in Kanpur in 2009

Hungry for hundreds

75%

Conversion rate for Kohli as captain in Tests - he has 12 centuries out of 16 50+ scores. It's the best among all captains with 10 or more hundreds

Captain centurion

10

Hundreds in all international cricket for Kohli in 2017, which is a record for any captain in a calendar year. Ponting (2005 & 2006) and Smith (2005) had 9 each

Vijay-Pujara in select group

5

Pairs who have added 4 successive century stands in Tests: Loxton-Harvey, S Manjrekar-Azharuddin, Butcher-Trescothick, Younis-Yousuf, and Vijay-Pujara

Outstanding home pair

9

Century stands between Vijay and Pujara in home Tests in just 22 partnerships; in 16 overseas stands, though, they have only one century partnership

Vijay-Pujara on a roll

5

Century stands between Vijay and Pujara in their last 7 stands in Tests; before this stand they had added 102, 178 and 107, 16, 47 & 209 in their previous 6 partnerships

The 1000-run club

2

Batsmen who have scored 1000-plus Test runs in 2017 - Dean Elgar and Dimuth Karunaratne. Elgar has 1097 runs in 20 inngs, while Karunaratne reached 1000 in his 23rd

Ashwin's bunny

12

Number of times Ashwin has dismissed Thirimanne in all international cricket, his highest against any batsman (6 times in ODIs, 5 in Tests and 1 in T20Is)