Player of the Match
Player of the Match
2078dThe Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy

Dhananjaya, Roshen deny India 2-0

Dhananjaya de Silva and the debutant Roshen Silva were Sri Lanka's fifth-day heroes as they fought their way to a drawn third Test

Match Centre

Statistics

Best performances - Batsmen

V Kohli
V Kohli
243(287) 25x4 - 0x6
Control %90%
  • Productive Shot
  • flick
  • 84 runs
  • 6x4 - 0x6
14 22 24 7 57 6 36 77
LD Chandimal
LD Chandimal
164(361) 21x4 - 1x6
Control %87%
  • Productive Shot
  • flick
  • 56 runs
  • 6x4 - 0x6
20 7 30 18 32 11 13 33

Best performances - Bowlers

PADLR Sandakan
PADLR Sandakan
O33.5
M1
R167
W4
Eco4.93
RHB
OFFLEG
3W1W
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
RA Jadeja
RA Jadeja
O38
M13
R81
W3
Eco2.13
RHB
OFFLEG
1W1W
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
1W

Scorecard Summary

INDIA 536/7d(127.5 OVERS)
1ST INNINGS

SRI LANKA 373(135.3 OVERS)
1ST INNINGS

INDIA 246/5d(52.2 OVERS)
2ND INNINGS

SRI LANKA 299/5(103 OVERS)
2ND INNINGS

Scorer: Ranjith P | Commentator: Shashank Kishore

END OF OVER:
103 | 1 Run | SL: 299/5

  • Niroshan Dickwella44 (72b)
  • Roshen Silva74 (154b)
  • Ravichandran Ashwin35-3-126-1
  • Ravindra Jadeja38-13-81-3

Right. End of what has been an enjoyable series. Time to sign-off, but don't forget, we're back for the first ODI of this tour on December 10. Hope to see you then. Until then, it's time for me, Shashank Kishore, to say goodbye. Cheers! Be well

Some news from the Indian camp as we sign-off: KL Rahul and Umesh Yadav will not turn out for Karnataka and Vidarbha respectively in the quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy beginning on Thursday. While Rahul misses out with a niggle, none of the fast bowlers selected for the South Africa tour next month will be released for the Ranji Trophy knockouts. That means Ishant Sharma, Umesh and Mohammed Shami, whose teams have made the last eight, will not be available for Delhi, Vidarbha and Bengal respectively should they advance to the semi-finals.

Time for the presentation

Virat Kohli wins the Man of the Match award for scores of 243 and 50. He's also Man of the series for his tally of 610 runs. Three hundreds, including two double tons. "It was a good series personally and for the team," he says. "It was kind of a revelation that I can play in Tests the way I can do in ODIs. There's nothing called set pattern these days, if you can believe in yourself, you can achieve anything in any format. When I wasn't captain, it was difficult to think of situations. When I was finding my feet in Test cricket, I was under pressure. When I got to a milestone, I relaxed. Now, it's a lot different."

On Rohit: "We've always believed he can change the game in the lower middle order. Very happy with the way the batsmen are playing, everyone won't be able to score in every series, obviously. There are a few areas we have to work on, though."

On not getting 20 wickets: "When you're not able to finish off in the second innings after having them three down on day four is disappointing. But they played well, they showed composure and confidence. The pitch got tired in the end. They didn't give us any chances to get into the game. In hindsight, if we would've grabbed our chances in the first innings, maybe they wouldn't have got so many runs. We should've done better. The slip catching and fielding, we need to work on."

On slip catching: "Firstly, from his initial days, Ajinkya has always fielded at gully. It's a difficult place, so we trust him there. First and second slip, if you practice well, you can get used to it. That's not the case at gully. We've identified it as an area we need to work on.

On resting for the limited-overs leg: Last time I took rest, it was difficult to handle. But my body is asking for it right now. The workload has been massive, I need rest. My body has taken a toll in the last couple of years. Right now is the perfect time to rest before the tour of South Africa.

Dinesh Chandimal: It was a really good series, apart from the second one (Test). We learnt a lot. Credit to the players and management for working hard. The guys executed their plans in the middle. Once Rangana was injured, everyone looked up to Angelo. Dhananjaya and Roshen batted really well in tough conditions against some great bowlers India have got. Dickwella played a totally different brand of cricket. Happy with the way we played today. Before I got here, I changed my technique. I'd worked hard at the nets with the batting coach. It's paid off for me. It was a tough time, the thing is, we aren't used to the pollution. That's why we struggled in the first two days. We told the boys, we need to forget about it and play the game. Today was a fantastic day, felt like Sri Lanka. Thanks to the Indians fans too, thanks to Virat and team, wish them well for the tour of South Africa.

Mustafa Moudi: "England from a commanding position at 176/4 with Root on crease, lost the game today, while Sri Lanka started the day on 31/3 ensured a draw losing just two wickets in the entire day. Test cricket, you beauty."

4.00pm That's that. Both teams have decided to call this off. Sri Lanka walk away with an honourable draw thanks to a superb unbeaten hundred from Dhananjaya de Silva. Credit where due to Roshen Silva too. Fell for a duck in the first innings, but showed immense character and resolve to fight through a tricky passage where one wicket would've helped India dig in to Sri Lanka's lower order.

With half the side dismissed and more than half of the day still left to play, India were right on top, but it didn't take long for Roshen, who came into this Test with 103 first-class games behind him, and it showed, his footwork nimble and his shot selection sure. He faced mostly spin before tea, and looked untroubled by it; his next assignment is a potentially testing period against the new ball.He walks away from his debut Test knowing he played a hand in securing a draw despite the first-innings disappointment. So the series will end with India taking it 1-0. India will look back at all the missed opportunities on the field, but will have to take their hats off and accept Sri Lanka played superbly on the final day.

Niroshan Dickwella: There was a big rough for Jadeja. Ashwin was bowling well too. I played my normal game, like I always do. We weren't on the backfoot. We were planning to chase this down if we got some good partnerships. Unfortunately Dhananjaya got injured, so that didn't help us. We wanted to bat normally till tea and then take it from there. If he would've been there, we would've gone for it. It wasn't really like a day-five pitch. There were some rough patches, so there were bowling there. It was difficult to hang on, that's why we were trying to play our shot.

Roshen Silva: I was under pressure, but I wanted to impress the selectors. I thought if we're going to stick around without playing shots, we can't score. They are a quality bowling attack, so I thought we should play shots against Jadeja and Ashwin. I told Dickwella and Dhananjaya that we should play our normal game and get some runs. It wasn't easy. Our batting coach said, 'if you can score runs here, the whole world will know you can score runs.' I think I grabbed my chance, hopefully I can do well in the future as well.

102.6
1
Ashwin to Dickwella, 1 run, bunts this length delivery to sweeper cover.

Substitute fielder out with drinks. Just a matter of time, you'd think.

102.5
0
Ashwin to Dickwella, no run, gets a good stride forward and defends
102.4
0
Ashwin to Dickwella, no run, swept, but on the bounce to Pujara at short fine leg
102.3
0
Ashwin to Dickwella, no run, goes for a full-blooded drive on the up, ends up slicing it on the bounce to point
102.2
0
Ashwin to Dickwella, no run, touch short outside off, dabbed to point
102.1
0
Ashwin to Dickwella, no run, expansive sweep, but can only connect with, I dare say, Delhi's polluted air. Went for an almighty heave from outside off, but missed it.

Umpires having a word. Llong has a chat then with Ashwin before he continues

  • India's record streak of nine consecutive series wins

    Their 1-0 series win over Sri Lanka helped India match Australia's record of nine consecutive series wins from 2005-08, while Dhananjaya de Silva surpassed Viv Richards to score the highest fourth-innings score by a visiting batsman in India

  • India aware of issues in slip cordon - Pujara

    With fitness being on agenda, India players have become better athletes, their ground fielding has improved, but nobody from the camp has been able to say why the same fielders seem to resemble non-stick cookware at slips

  • Dhananjaya, Roshen deny India 2-0

    Dhananjaya de Silva and the debutant Roshen Silva were Sri Lanka's fifth-day heroes as they fought their way to a drawn third Test

  • Dhananjaya and a new dawn for Sri Lanka

    Sri Lanka dropped him after throwing him in the firing line in South Africa. He has returned with the highest fourth-innings score by a visiting batsman in India. Young talents like that need better nurturing

  • SL's struggles with Delhi air may be genuine - Dhawan

    After having seen his team-mate Shami vomit on the field, the India opener was more understanding of the visitors' discomfort, but he only went as far as giving them a benefit of doubt

Dhananjaya fights

109*

Previous highest score by visiting batsmen when chasing in India, by Viv Richards at Kotla in 1987. Dhananjaya de Silva has gone past that in this chase.

Kohli's series

610

Runs by Kohli in this series, the fourth-most for any batsman in a three-match Test series.

Fails again

17

Runs accumulated by Ajinkya Rahane in this series, in 5 innings. His scores: 4, 0, 2, 1, 10.

Chandimal's best

162*

Previous highest score for Dinesh Chandimal in Test, that came against India in Galle in 2015. He's better it with 164 in this game.

Record ten

0

No. of SL batsmen to score 10 Test centuries in fewer innings than Chandimal who has done it in 80 innings. Thilan Samaraweera, who took 84 innings, was the previous quickest for SL.

A long show

476

Balls faced by Mathews and Chandimal in this partnership - the most by any visiting pair in India since 2010. Kallis and Amla had batted 641 balls in Nagpur in Feb 2010.

Record double

6

No. of double-centuries by Virat Kohli as captain - the most. He went past Brian Lara's five 200s as captain. All other Indian captains combined have only four 200s.

No. 20 for Kohli

4

Number of batsmen to score 20 Test centuries in fewer innings than Kohli who has got there in his 105th innings. Bradman (55), Gavaskar (93), Hayden (95) and S Smith (99) are the only ones ahead.

Kohli's 5000

3

No. of India batsmen to get to 5000 Test runs in fewer inns than Kohli who has taken 105 inns. Gavaskar (95), Sehwag (99) and Tendulkar (103) are the three ahead of Kohli.

Perera's milestone

25

No. of Tests taken by Dilruwan Perera to take 100 wickets - the fastest among 6 Sri Lanka bowlers to the milestone. Muralitharan was the previous fastest in 27 matches.

Victorious venue

11-0

India's win-loss record in last 12 Tests at Delhi, before this. The last time they lost there was in 1987 to West Indies.