In the Sri Lanka tour of India, the hosts won the first Test of the two-match series dominantly by 222 runs. An impeccable all-round performance from Ravindra Jadeja helped India to secure the first fixture of the bilateral series effortlessly.
The Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma (29), won the toss and opted to bat. The pitch in Mohali was a batting pitch and the hosts exploited the conditions to the fullest in front of the home crowd. All the top eight batsmen in the line-up got to a double-digit score and contributed fairly. Rishabh Pant (96) counter-attacked the Lankans and kept the game interesting. The southpaw’s innings came to an end when he was just four runs short of his century. The MVP with the bat for the Indian team was Ravindra Jadeja, who smashed a mammoth unbeaten 175 after walking in to bat at number seven with 228 on the board. Jadeja stitched century-stand partnerships each with Ravichandran Ashwin (61), who himself scored a half-century and Mohammed Shami. The Rohit-led Indian team declared at 574 in the first innings.
Just like the batting, the home team was equally dominant with the ball. India took 18 overs to pocket their first wicket but later started taking wickets at regular intervals and derailed Sri Lanka’s batting line-up. The hosts imposed follow-on after bundling out the visitors for 174. The invincible Jadeja registered a five-wicket haul in the second innings.
In the third innings, the outcome was nothing different as this time the Lankans managed to score four more runs than their first innings’ total. The spin duo of Ashwin and Jadeja didn’t let the tourists settle at the crease and pocketed eight wickets together.Â
Jadeja was the pick among the bowlers too for grabbing nine wickets in the match. Ashwin had six wickets to his name while Shami had three. Jasprit Bumrah had two scalps in the match.
For the Lankans, Vishwa Fernando, Lasith Embuldeniya and Suranga Lakmal got two wickets each. Lahiru Kumara and Dhananjaya de Silva grabbed one wicket each.
Jadeja was adjudged Man of the Match for his emphatic unbeaten 175 off 228 deliveries with 17 fours and three sixes.
Scorecard:
India 1st inn: 574/8 d, Overs 129.2, Ravindra Jadeja (175*), Rishabh Pant (96), Suranga Lakmal (2/90)
Sri Lanka 1st inn: 174/10, Overs 65, Pathum Nissanka (61*), Charith Asalanka (29), Ravindra Jadeja (5/41)
Sri Lanka 2nd inn: 178/10, Overs 60, Niroshan Dickwell (51*), Dhananjaya de Silva (30), Ravindra Jadeja (4/46)