Galle [Sri Lanka], August 17 (ANI): Despite Sonal Dinusha’s maiden Test hundred on Day 3 of the first Test match, Sri Lanka could only make 284 in the first innings in response to India’s 462, and the Shubman Gill-led side took a big lead of 178 runs in Galle.
Dinusha and the wicketkeeper-batter Niroshan Dickwella added 146 runs for the sixth wicket and kept Indian bowlers at bay, but the seamer Prasidh Krishna dismissed Dickwella at the score of 80 runs in the 62nd over.
The dismissal extended Dickwella’s unwanted record for the most 50-plus scores in Test cricket without converting any of them into a century. The 33-year-old has now registered 23 Test half-centuries but is yet to reach three figures.
His closest attempt came in 2021 during Sri Lanka’s tour of the West Indies, when he was dismissed for 96 in the first Test at Antigua.
Dickwella now leads the list of batters with the most Test half-centuries without a century. Former India opener Chetan Chauhan is second with 16 half-centuries without a hundred.
Ravindra Jadeja dismissed Keshara Nuwantha in the 67th over and completed his 350 wickets in the traditional format. He became the only the fifth Indian bowler to reach the mark in Tests, following Anil Kumble (619), Ravichandran Ashwin (537), Kapil Dev (434) and Harbhajan Singh (417).
Among left-arm spinners, Jadeja now sits third for Test wickets behind Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath (433) and New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori (362).
Jadeja reached the landmark when Sri Lanka batter Keshara Nuwantha attempted to attack an away-turning delivery, only to mistime his shot. Shubman Gill completed the catch, giving Jadeja his 350th Test wicket.
The milestone also saw Jadeja join former India captain Kapil Dev as the only Indians to have amassed more than 4,000 Test runs and 350 wickets. Jadeja began the match with 4,095 runs and 348 wickets from 89 Tests.
Overall, Jadeja became only the fourth player to achieve the combination of 4,000-plus runs and 350-plus wickets in Test cricket, joining Kapil Dev, England’s Ian Botham and New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori.
Then Dinusha went on to score his maiden Test century with a single in the 78th over. Manav Suthar dismissed Prabath Jayasuriya on the very next delivery.
Jadeja trapped Dinusha on the very first delivery of the next over; Lahiru Kumara hit a couple of boundaries in the next over of Suthar before being stumped out.
Manav Suthar took a four-wicket haul, whereas Jadeja grabbed a three-for. Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Krishna took one wicket each.
The hosts have successfully avoided the follow-on, and the Indian side will come out to bat on Day 4 as the umpires soon called for stumps on Day 3. (ANI)
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