India vs Sri Lanka | India thrash Sri Lanka by an innings and 53 runs to clinch series 2-0

Brief scores: India 622/9 decl. defeated Sri Lanka 183 & 386 (Dimuth Karunaratne 136, Kusal Mendis 110, Ravindra Jadeja 5/152) by an innings and 53 runs.

Day 1

After a comprehensive win in the first Test in Galle, India continued their dominance over the host on day one of the second Test. After winning the toss, Virat Kohli chose to bat and Cheteshwar Pujara (128*) and Ajinkya Rahane (102*) vindicated their captain’s decision by sending the home side’s bowlers on a leather hunt on the first day as India finished the day strong with, 344 for 3 on the board. More importantly, the duo managed to set the stage for yet another colossal first innings total for India. 

Day 2

India consolidated their position in the game on the second day as both Pujara and Rahane went onto score 133 and 132 respectively. Moreover, the likes of Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja all chipped in with half centuries of their own which propelled India to a massive first innings total of 622/9 when Kohli decided to declare the innings. In response, Sri Lanka were made to bat for a brief period in the final session and Ravichandran Ashwin ensured a double whammy for the home side as he sent Upul Tharanga and  Dimuth Karunaratne packing to leave the hosts in trouble at 50/2 at the end of day’s play.

Day 3

Having lost two wickets on the second day itself, the Lankan lions were faced with an uphill task to try and get as close as possible to India’s first innings total, but Ashwin cut them down to size as he picked up a fifer to bundle out the hosts for a meagre score of 183, which handed India a massive 439-run lead as Sri Lanka were asked to follow on. However, in Sri Lanka’s second innings, Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis put on an uncharacteristic 191 run partnership as to give the home side a glimmer of hope. Though Karunarathne got out after a well-made 110 towards the end of the day, his best efforts were never going to be enough to change Sri Lanka’s fortunes as they still had a mount to climb.

Day 4

With only eight wickets left in their bag at the start of the day, Sri Lanka suffered another batting collapse on what turned out to be the last day of the Test match. However, the only difference was that this time Ravindra Jadeja was the tormenter in chief as the allrounder picked up a fiver to ensure India completed yet another comprehensive win by thrashing the hosts by an innings and 53 runs.