Indians silence Lankan lions

Things moved at a frenetic pace on the Moving Day as a relentless Indian attack ran through a hapless Sri Lankan side that expectedly failed to offer even a semblance of fight and lost 16 wickets on the day to hand the hosts a thumping innings and 222-run victory here on Sunday.

Man of the match Ravindra Jadeja bagged a five-for in the first and then returned to bag four in the second while his spinning colleague R Ashwin, who surpassed the legendary Kapil Dev’s tally of 434 Test wickets, took a match haul of six wickets and pacers Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah too chipped in nicely at the PCA Stadium as India outclassed the Lankans in emphatic fashion.

Sri Lanka, resuming the day at 108/4 and a massive 466 runs behind India’s first innings total, needed a Herculean effort to even make India toil hard considering how strong and dominating this home attack has been. They needed at least one or two batsmen to either play an innings of great character and discipline or produce a counter-attack for the ages to push the contest deep.

Also Read | Ashwin goes past Kapil Dev's 434 wickets, becomes India's second-highest wicket-taker in Tests

India though knew they had the Lankans by the collar. They had bullied them into submission over the previous two days and all they needed was another professional performance to complete the formalities at the earliest. And they looked ready for the kill from the first ball.

Shami and Ashwin began the proceedings and they were on the money, constantly troubling the overnight pair of Pathum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka. There were edges, close calls and even a dropped chance. Nissanka and Asalanka, batting amidst immense pressure with several close-in fielders breathing down their necks, however weathered the storm through some grit and plenty of luck.

It looked like they would make India earn the win rather than being gifted one on a platter. The Indian attack, possessing four world-class operators, kept coming at Lankans though and the relentless assault was going to break either Nissanka or Asalanka at some stage.

That’s exactly what happened in the 58th over as Bumrah trapped Asalanka leg-before. It was the breakthrough India wanted and from there the floodgates opened. One Sri Lankan batsman after another threw his wicket away like millionaires as they collapsed to 174 all out in 65 overs.

Rohit Sharma didn’t waste a second in enforcing the follow-on, something which most Indian skippers shy away. Bruised and battered, the Lankans’ lost a wicket before lunch and judging by their body language, it looked like they'd already accepted defeat.

Former skipper Angelo Mathews (28, 75b) and Dhananjaya de Silva (30, 58b) offered a brief moment of resistance but once their 49-run stand for the fourth wicket was broken by Jadeja, the writing was on the wall. Wickets kept tumbling like nine pins and India galloped to one of their biggest wins in a match where several records were shattered.

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