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India beat Sri Lanka by 165 runs in the first Test at Galle, bowling the hosts out for 206 chasing 372. Manav Suthar took ten wickets in the match, backed by Devdutt Padikkal’s maiden Test century of 167. India lead the two-match series 1-0 with 12 WTC points.
Galle, Sri Lanka: Five days that began with a fortress and ended with rubble. India won the toss on a Galle surface that promised runs early and ruin late, and they read the script better than the hosts ever managed. By the time Manav Suthar knocked over Keshara Nuwantha’s off stump on the final day, Sri Lanka had been asked to do something no team has ever done at this ground — chase 372 in the fourth innings — and had fallen 166 short.
This was India’s 600th Test and the 50th played at Galle, and it delivered a young spinner’s coming-of-age, a maiden hundred at a problem position, and a milestone six that rewrote an Indian record. Both sides had arrived stranded in the middle of the World Test Championship table, each needing a clean sweep to keep a final in view. Only one leaves Galle with that hope intact.
Padikkal Answers the No. 3 Question
India’s first innings was built on a young left-hander stepping into a vacancy. Drafted in at No. 3 for the injured Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal made 167 — a maiden Test century, and the first by an Indian at that position since Shubman Gill in September 2024. KL Rahul’s 82 gave him company early, and India closed the opening day on 288 for 2 before eventually being bowled out for 462. Crucially, Suthar contributed 24 from No. 8 and added 55 with Dhruv Jurel after India had wobbled from 288 for 2 to 377 for 6, vindicating Gill’s pre-series faith. “He has great skill with his bowling and the potential to be a really good number eight batsman as well,” the captain had said.
Dinusha and Dickwella Fight, Then Fold
Sri Lanka were 90 for 5 and drifting when Sonal Dinusha and Niroshan Dickwella, back in Test cricket after three years, added 146. Dinusha made a century, Dickwella 80. It was resistance, not rescue. Suthar finished with 4 for 76 and Ravindra Jadeja — who passed 350 Test wickets during the innings — took three as the hosts folded for 284 in 79.4 overs, still 178 behind.
Pant’s Hundredth Six, and a Target Beyond Reach
India’s second innings was a hurry rather than a grind. Asitha Fernando bowled beautifully for 4 for 31, the best figures by a Sri Lankan quick at home since Suranga Lakmal in 2019, and India lost their last four wickets for 19 runs to be dismissed for 193. But Rishabh Pant’s 66 had already done the damage. Within it came his 100th six in Test cricket — no Indian had reached the mark before, and nobody has reached it faster. Rahul made 35, Padikkal 44. Sri Lanka needed 372.
The Morning Sri Lanka Almost Survived
They survived for ninety minutes. Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinusha, unbeaten overnight, took the score past 130 with fifties apiece, and India’s appeals kept dying in the umpire’s shrug. Then Jadeja found extra bounce with a full ball on de Silva’s pads; the sweep went off the top edge and looped to Suthar at short fine leg. The stand was worth 95 from 202 balls. Prasidh Krishna removed Dickwella caught behind three overs later. The door came off its hinges.
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Suthar did the rest. He had already trapped concussion substitute Pasindu Sooriyabandara — drafted in for the injured Dinesh Chandimal — for a golden duck on day four; now he ran through the lower order for 6 for 55, a second five-wicket haul in as many Tests. Prabath Jayasuriya was castled for a golden duck, Lahiru Kumara edged behind two balls later. Dinusha’s 84 ended the tail’s last hope of a rearguard. Nuwantha’s stumps ended the Test, Sri Lanka all out for 206 in 77.4 overs.
A Series Still Alive, Barely
Suthar’s match return of 10 for 131 is the best by an Indian bowler in a Test in Sri Lanka, ahead of Harbhajan Singh’s 10 for 153 at this ground in 2008 and Ravichandran Ashwin’s 10 for 160 in 2015. Seventeen wickets in four Test innings have turned an injury-forced selection into a settled one. India take 12 points and a 1-0 lead into the second Test. For Sri Lanka, the batting held together twice and broke both times; the return match, on similar turf, offers the only route back.
Score: India 462 (Padikkal 167, Rahul 82) & 193 (Pant 66, Asitha Fernando 4/31) beat Sri Lanka 284 (Dinusha 100, Dickwella 80, Suthar 4/76) & 206 (Dinusha 84, de Silva 59, Suthar 6/55, Prasidh Krishna 2/16) by 165 runs
