India 503 for 9 dec (Padikkal 117, Jurel 115*, Asitha 4-106) drew with Sri Lanka 290 (Dinusha 103, Sooriyabandara 80, Prasidh 3-52, Suthar 3-85) and 429 for 9 dec (Dinusha 133*, Sooriyabandara 92, Jadeja 3-94, Suthar 3-121)
A third hundred in four innings from the unstoppable Sonal Dinusha led Sri Lanka to an epic draw in the second Test at the SSC, with the lower order supporting him doggedly through a fifth day of intense toil for India's bowlers. By the time the teams shook hands, Sri Lanka had made India bowl 243.4 overs across back-to-back innings, having enforced the follow-on.
Dinusha had batted for a combined 426 balls, following up his first-innings 103 with an unbeaten 133 of serene self-possession. Playing just his fifth Test match, Dinusha gave the impression of a batter who knows the contours of his game intimately. This was particularly evident against the spinners, against whom he used the sweep and all its variants frequently and to great effect, while seldom venturing into strokes outside his chosen repertoire for the conditions, with drives conspicuously absent for the most part on a slow pitch that would have rendered them dangerous.
The slowness of the pitch and all the overs in their legs left India's attack struggling to produce breakthroughs, but they were admirably persistent, and their efforts seemed to pay off when Manav Suthar found turn and disconcerting bounce to have Keshara Nuwantha caught at gully in the first over after lunch. Nuwantha and Dinusha had batted through a wicketless first session, and put on 112 in 246 balls for the seventh wicket, but Sri Lanka were far from safe when Suthar broke their partnership: they only led by 117 at that point with almost two full sessions still to play.
But the rest of Sri Lanka's lower-order took off from where Nuwantha left off. Prabath Jayasuriya spent 71 balls in the middle with Dinusha before edging a drive off Ravindra Jadeja to gully. Then Lahiru Kumara, who had been out to an ill-timed slog in the first innings when his 58-run stand with Dinusha had moved Sri Lanka close to the follow-on mark, came out determined not to repeat that mistake. He spent two hours at the crease while scoring 12 off 90 balls, adding 47 in 170 balls with Dinusha, and by the time Jadeja found turn out of the rough to have him caught at short leg, Sri Lanka were well in sight of safety.
Dinusha and Asitha Fernando then batted out 56 balls - the bulk of them delivered by part-timers with India conceding that their chance was gone - before the handshakes came out at the first possible opportunity, with a Sri Lankan declaration triggering the last hour. Sri Lanka at that stage had extended their lead all the way to 216.
India's spinners did the bulk of their work, with Suthar, Jadeja and Saransh Jain each bowling 35-plus overs in the second innings and 55-plus overs in the match. All of them got the occasional ball to turn sharply and beat the edge comprehensively, but typically these balls did too much to actually threaten a wicket. In between, the ball either behaved exactly as the batters expected, or did its mischief at a slow enough pace for the batters to be able to adjust. And while the odd ball bounced disconcertingly, there were almost no instances of low bounce.
With the help that this SSC surface had given the seamers in the early part of the Test match - primarily through variable bounce that made the short ball a viable weapon - seeming to have receded, and fatigue also setting in, India only used their seamers in brief spurts, particularly after the second new ball had lost its shine. One possible sign of concern for India was Mohammed Siraj's speeds, which were down below the 130kph mark, and had stayed there through most of the series.
It was still Siraj who came closest to getting the wicket of Dinusha, with a short ball in the post-lunch session that the left-hander fended wide of short leg. It wasn't anything like a clear-cut chance, though, indicating just how much control Dinusha had throughout an entire day's batting. And throughout a triumphant series that he finished with 419 runs at an average of 139.66.
