The second Test between India and Sri Lanka in Colombo ended in a thrilling draw. Just when a loss seemed certain for Sri Lanka, young batter Sonal Dinusha showed amazing fighting spirit, scoring an unbeaten century to save the match.
Young Sri Lankan player Sonal Dinusha once again showed his class. He played a superb knock in the second Test against India at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo. Dinusha was the main man who helped his team avoid defeat. Sri Lanka was forced to follow-on after being 213 runs behind in the first innings. But they fought back, batting for a massive 154 overs to score 429/9 before declaring. The match ended in a draw, but India won the two-match series 1-0 after winning the first Test.
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Dinusha's marathon innings in Sri Lanka's fightback
On the fifth day, Sri Lanka continued their second innings with a small lead of 16 runs. At this point, the 25-year-old left-handed batter Sonal Dinusha stood like a rock. He remained not out, scoring 133 runs from 264 balls. He reached his century by taking two runs towards mid-wicket off the first ball from Mohammed Siraj after tea. This was amazingly his third century of the series. He also put together a crucial 27-run partnership for the last wicket with Asitha Fernando.
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Tired Indian bowlers; Captain Gill tries his hand at bowling
The Colombo pitch became very helpful for batting, making the Indian bowlers toil hard. Mohammed Siraj was struggling with a small injury, and Ravindra Jadeja also looked exhausted. It became so difficult to get the Sri Lankan lower-order out that captain Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and even wicket-keeper Dhruv Jurel had to bowl a few overs. Sri Lanka's tail-ender Lahiru Kumara scored a stubborn 12 runs off 90 balls before Jaiswal caught him off Jadeja's bowling.
Dinusha created a new record by becoming only the third Sri Lankan batter to score centuries in both innings of a Test match against India. Before him, only Duleep Mendis (1982) and Aravinda de Silva (1997) had managed this feat against India. This means, after exactly 29 years, a Sri Lankan player has repeated this achievement. Overall, he is the 8th Sri Lankan batter to score centuries in both innings of a Test.
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Rajeev Shukla compares him to Sachin Tendulkar
In the four innings of this series, Dinusha scored over 50 runs every time (100, 84, 103, and 133 not out). He is now the first Asian batter to score 50+ runs in his first four Test innings against India. His brilliant batting impressed BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla, who praised him on social media platform X. "Watching Dinusha play reminds me of Sachin Tendulkar. He will become a great player in international Test cricket," Shukla posted. **Brief Scores** • **India 1st Innings:** 503/9 declared (138 overs) • **Sri Lanka 1st Innings:** 290 • **Sri Lanka 2nd Innings (Follow-on):** 429/9 declared (154 overs) - (Sonal Dinusha 133 not out, Pasindu Sooriyabandara 92; Manav Suthar 3-105, Ravindra Jadeja 3-94) • **Result:** Match Drawn (India wins series 1-0)
