India win Galle Test by 304 Runs

The hosts, chasing 550 runs for victory, only managed 245 before their second innings folded in the final session, after opening batsman Dimuth Karunaratne had been dismissed for 97.

The Men in Blue secured a comprehensive 304-run victory over hosts Sri Lanka with a day to spare as Shikhar Dhawan celebrated his come back to the side after a gap of almost 10 months with a Man-of-the-Match winning performance, scoring 190 in the first innings.

Sticking to the theme of positives, Herath lauded the efforts of Nuwan Pradeep, who took 6 for 132 in India’s first-innings 600.

Niroshan Dickwella added 67 runs. Desperate for a comeback, Pujara was roped in as makeshift opener due to injuries on the 2015 tour and he hit a match-winning 145 not out, carrying his bat.

Instead of blaming his team for the humiliating defeat in the first Test, Sri Lanka’s makeshift skipper Rangana Herath chose to credit India for their clinical performance.

On the second day, Abhinav had forced himself into the game, pulling off a sharp run out and taking a stunning catch under the helmet to keep himself active in the game after a first-innings failure.

India was 189-3 in its second innings at stumps on Day 3 with Kohli 76 not out.

The Indian Captain Virat Kohli may have fail to pass on in the primary innings. yet he quickly made up by squashing an awe inspiring century in the second innings.

Skipper Kohli did not enforce the follow on and India walked out to bat only to lose their 2 centurions from the first innings early.

Shikhar Dhawan was adjusted as Man of the match for his first inning 190 runs from just 168 balls.

“(I’m) Really happy with the way things went in this particular game”, Indian captain Virat Kohli said at the presentation.

For India, this marked their biggest away win in Test history, easily surpassing their 279-run victory over England at Headingley back in 1986. As a result, Sri Lanka were set a target of 550 to win.

It was Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami running in at full steam and shooting down one thunderbolt after the other with surgical precision.

They could not last the day, though, as Kohli’s bowling unit all contributed to a massive win for the world’s top Test team.

“Obviously when you lose a game, you are disappointed”.

Mendis got out at 108 after making 36 off 71 deliveries with three boundaries as Sri Lanka slid down to 116-4 in no time. I wanted to play with legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag, and many of them were part of that Indian team.