Manav Suthar Surpasses Ashwin, Harbhajan as India Crush Sri Lanka in Galle Test

Manav Suthar arrived in Galle as a promising spin-bowling all-rounder. He left the first Test with a record that neither Ravichandran Ashwin nor Harbhajan Singh could claim.

Playing only his second Test, the 24-year-old ripped through Sri Lanka with his maiden 10-wicket match haul, powering India to a commanding 165-run victory and a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

Suthar followed his first-innings 4/76 with 6/55 in the second, finishing with match figures of 10/131. It is now the best performance by an Indian bowler in a Test in Sri Lanka, eclipsing Harbhajan’s 10/153 at Galle in 2008 and Ashwin’s 10/160 at the same venue in 2015. He also became only the third Indian bowler, after Harbhajan and Ashwin, to take 10 wickets in a Test in Sri Lanka.

Chasing 372 on a wearing fifth-day surface, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 206 despite a stubborn fight from Sonal Dinusha and captain Dhananjaya de Silva.

Sri Lanka resumed the final day at 84/4, with Dinusha unbeaten on 25 and Dhananjaya on 31. The pair dug in, absorbed pressure from India’s spinners and slowly dragged the hosts back into the contest. Dhananjaya brought up his half-century from 125 deliveries, while Dinusha followed his first-innings hundred with another assured fifty. Their partnership grew to 95 and briefly made India sweat.

Ravindra Jadeja finally broke the resistance when Dhananjaya top-edged a sweep into Suthar’s hands at short fine leg. The Sri Lankan captain departed for 59 from 151 balls, leaving the hosts at 142/5. Niroshan Dickwella then joined Dinusha, but Prasidh Krishna found the edge to remove him for 10. Sri Lanka went into the first interval at 175/6, still 197 runs short of the target.

Dinusha and Keshara Nuwantha added another 24 runs after the break. Then Suthar detonated the innings. In the 76th over, he dismissed Dinusha for 84, breaking a 43-run partnership and extinguishing Sri Lanka’s last meaningful resistance. Prabath Jayasuriya fell to the very next delivery. Lahiru Kumara survived the hat-trick ball but was dismissed before the over ended.

Sri Lanka had crashed from 199/6 to 199/9 in six deliveries. Suthar returned in his next over and removed Nuwantha for 20, sealing India’s victory, completing his six-wicket innings haul and reaching 10 wickets in a Test for the first time. Four Sri Lankan wickets had disappeared in the space of 10 balls. Prasidh finished with 2/16 from 10 overs, while Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj claimed one wicket each.

The victory was built on Devdutt Padikkal’s magnificent 167 in India’s first innings. KL Rahul struck 82 and Dhruv Jurel contributed 51 as India posted 462 after choosing to bat.

Sri Lanka collapsed to 90/5 in reply before Dinusha and Dickwella launched a rescue operation. Their 146-run partnership lifted the hosts to 284, with Dinusha scoring 100 and Dickwella making 80. Suthar’s four wickets ensured India still carried a substantial 178-run lead into the second innings. Sri Lanka hit back through Asitha Fernando and Jayasuriya, bowling India out for 193. Rishabh Pant counterattacked with 66, Padikkal added 44 and Rahul made 35, leaving the hosts a daunting target of 372.

In only his second Test, Suthar did more than finish a match. He conquered Galle and vaulted past two of India’s greatest spin bowlers in the record books.

(With inputs from ANI)