India recorded a massive win against Sri Lanka in the second and final Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Monday, winning by 238 runs to take the series 2-0 in one of their most dominating performances at home in recent times.
Indian spinners Ravichandran Ashwin, Akshar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja shared 7 wickets between them while the remaining 3 went in the account of Jasprit Bumrah, as the hosts recorded a huge victory once again. India had earlier won the opening Test in Mohali by an innings and 222 runs.
For Sri Lanka, their captain Dimuth Karunaratne scored his 14th century in Test cricket, making 107 from 174 balls with the help of 15 boundaries while the talented right-handed batsman Kusal Mendis brought up a fine half-century but their efforts were just not enough to defy the Indian bowlers.
The third and final day of the second Test in Bangalore began with Sri Lanka placed dangerously at 28/1 in their second innings, still needing another 419 runs to win the Test match and level the series. India were expected to knock over the Sri Lankan batsmen without much effort, but a fine performance in the middle between Karunaratne and Mendis delayed the inevitable. Karunaratne and Mendis added 97 runs from 115 balls for the second wicket to keep Sri Lanka afloat in the first session, wherein they added 123 runs even though they lost 3 further wickets.
However, despite making a promising start to the day’s play with the bat, Sri Lanka’s middle order could not produce similar resistance with the likes of Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya de Silva fell for 1 and 4 respectively. Sri Lanka wicket-keeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella could not support his captain for a long time, as his charge down the wicket against Akshar Patel resulted in him being stumped for 12 from 39 balls.
Sri Lanka batsman Charith Asalanka was caught at leg slip by Indian captain Rohit Sharma off Patel and the rest of the visiting team’s batting could not do enough to keep the fight going on. Sri Lanka’s resistance ended when Jasprit Bumrah went through the defence of their captain Karunaratne, following which the visiting side fell like a pack of cards to hand India a huge victory by 238 runs.
The Indian team won all the hearts with their performances across departments in the test series and they displayed exemplary act of spirit of cricket when they all went on to congratulate Sri Lanka bowler Suranga Lakmal, who was playing in his final Test for his country.
The Indian cricketers will now get busy with the preparations for the upcoming 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL), which starts on March 26 with last year’s finalists Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) clashing in the opening game of the tournament in Mumbai.