Colombo: In the only warm-up match of India’s Sri Lanka tour, which ended in a convincing Indian victory on Sunday, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (61 retired out, 46 balls, two sixes, nine fours) put his first-innings duck behind him and enjoyed valuable batting practice. Captain Shubman Gill (44, 54 balls, seven fours) also got useful time in the middle, brushing aside the lingering pain in his injured finger following his recovery. Their 105-run partnership laid the foundation for India’s victory on the final day of the three-day match.
Why Did India Continue Batting Even After Winning?
Team India made a winning start to the Sri Lanka tour by defeating Sri Lanka Cricket XI by six wickets in the practice match. In the final moments of the game, Mohammed Siraj smashed four sixes in five balls to seal India’s victory. Siraj remained unbeaten on 32 off just 15 balls, hitting four sixes and one four. India reached the target of 207 for the loss of four wickets.
India would normally have been declared winners at 4/208, but this was a practice match and the agreed requirement was to complete the 45th over of India’s innings, making it the 90th over of the day. Therefore, the umpires allowed play to continue even after India had reached the winning target. The match was eventually declared over at the end of the 45th over, with India finishing on 4/214.
Sri Lanka Get a ‘Warning’ from India’s Lower Order
Siraj managed only one wicket for 69 runs in the entire match, but he made his presence felt with the bat in a brief late cameo. In the first innings, another pace bowler, Gurnoor Brar, smashed an unbeaten 36 off just 18 balls, including four sixes and two fours.
With these performances, India’s lower-order batters have sent a clear message to the Sri Lankan team ahead of the first Test beginning on Saturday, August 15: they too are capable of contributing valuable runs with the bat when required.
Indian Bowlers Also Get Useful Practice
In the first innings, Devdutt Padikkal enjoyed excellent batting practice, scoring an unbeaten 142 off 164 balls with 18 fours. After Sri Lanka Cricket XI declared their first innings at 8/363, India declared at 6/357, with Padikkal’s unbeaten 142 complemented by contributions from Ravindra Jadeja (63 retired out), Manav Suthar (41), KL Rahul (40), Gurnoor Brar (36 not out) and Saransh Jain (22 retired out).
In their second innings, Sri Lanka Cricket XI declared at 6/200, setting India a target to win the match. India successfully chased it down. Ravindra Jadeja was India’s leading wicket-taker in the match with four wickets, while fast bowler Gurnoor Brar claimed three.
The match also provided valuable bowling practice for India’s attack. The bowling unit includes Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, spinner Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar and Saransh Jain.
First Test From Saturday
The first Test between India and Sri Lanka will begin on Saturday, August 15, in Galle, with the match going live from 10:00 am. The second and final Test will be played in Colombo from August 23.
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