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- By Sunny Daud
- Wed, 19 Aug 2026 01:47 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Manav Suthar produced a match-winning performance with the ball as India beat Sri Lanka by 165 runs in the first Test at the Galle International Stadium on Wednesday.
The young left-arm spinner took 6/55 in Sri Lanka’s second innings to finish with 10 wickets in the match. Playing only his second Test, Suthar helped India bowl Sri Lanka out for 206 in 77.4 overs.
The win gives India a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. It also earned them 12 World Test Championship points on a memorable day, with the match marking India’s 600th Test.
Sri Lanka had shown plenty of fight after lunch on the fifth day, with Sonal Dinusha and Keshara Nuwantha trying to keep the hosts in the game.
Dinusha was looking particularly comfortable and had moved to 84. Having already scored a century in the first innings, he was closing in on the chance to become only the second Sri Lankan batter to score two hundreds in the same Test.
Suthar, however, had other plans.
The spinner changed the game completely in the 76th over by picking up three wickets without conceding a run.
He first ended the partnership by getting some extra bounce from a flighted delivery outside leg stump. Dinusha could only glove the ball towards leg gully, where Dhruv Jurel took a sharp catch.
Suthar struck again with the very next ball.
Prabath Jayasuriya was beaten by a delivery that drifted in and turned off the surface before hitting the top of off stump. Jayasuriya was out for a golden duck.
Lahiru Kumara survived the hat-trick delivery, but Suthar did not have to wait long for his next wicket. Two balls later, he went around the wicket and found Kumara’s outside edge. Rishabh Pant completed the catch behind the stumps.
The wicket gave Suthar his second five-wicket haul in as many Tests.
Sri Lanka’s final pair, Nuwantha and Asitha Fernando, managed to delay India’s victory for a little while longer. Nuwantha even hit Suthar for a boundary with a paddle sweep as Sri Lanka crossed the 200-run mark.
But the result was only a matter of time.
Suthar returned in the 78th over and produced the final blow. His quicker delivery skidded on after pitching and went through Nuwantha’s defence, knocking over his stumps for 20.
The Indian players erupted in celebration as the team completed a convincing victory.
India’s win was built on important contributions with both bat and ball. Devdutt Padikkal played a superb first innings, scoring 167 to help India take a 178-run lead.
Rishabh Pant then added a valuable 66 in the second innings, giving India enough runs to put Sri Lanka under pressure on a surface that was offering assistance to the spinners.
Suthar made full use of those conditions and finished the Test with outstanding figures of 10/101, putting his name firmly in the spotlight after only two Tests.
Brief scores
India 462 and 193 beat Sri Lanka 284 and 206 in 77.4 overs (Sonal Dinusha 84, Dhananjaya de Silva 59; Manav Suthar 6-55, Prasidh Krishna 2-16) by 165 runs