Dhananjaya de Silva - (Source: AFP/X)
Sri Lanka team captain Dhananjaya De Silva credited two Indian players for their brilliance after the home team lost the first test of the two matches by 165 runs on August 19, 2026. This match was played in Galle and saw India batting first after winning the toss.
Devdutt Padikkal scored 167, KL Rahul scored 82, and Dhruv Jurel hit 51 as India amassed 462 runs in their first innings. Sri Lanka responded with 284 runs, with Sonal Dinusha scoring 100 and Niroshan Dickwella scoring 80. Manav Suthar took four wickets for India, while Ravindra Jadeja took three.
KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal put pressure on us: Dhananjaya de Silva
Dhananjaya de Silva, the captain of Sri Lanka, stated during the presentation ceremony that his team played the majority of the game. However, it was KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal that separated the two teams. Additionally, Silva believes it may have had an impact on the match's outcome due to the toss.
“I thought from the second day onwards, we were in the game mostly, and I thought boys fought hard even in the fourth inning here. It's not easy, but yeah, I thought it was a good game. It was good to bat on the first three days. Obviously, fourth innings won't be easy, everyone knows that, in Galle.
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But I thought that the starts that Rahul and Padikkal got, they made them big and put the pressure on us from there. Maybe, yeah, because they won the toss and got the runs on the board. And, when we were batting, we just lost early wickets, and we were down and under from there,” De Silva said during the presentation ceremony as quoted by Cricbuzz.
Manav Suthar's brilliance and patience wins against Sri Lankan batters’ stubbornness
Dhananjaya de Silva himself played a huge role on day four in stabilizing the Sri Lankan innings after they had lost four early wickets in the chase of 372 runs. He scored 59 runs and added a crucial 95 runs with Sonal Dinusha to avoid further damage.
However, Manav Suthar and co. came out on top of day five. Ravindra Jadeja dismissed De Silva with a sweep shot, and then Sri Lanka lost their last five wickets for just 50 runs. Sonal Dinusha, who had made his maiden Test ton in the first innings, managed 84 runs in the second innings.
Manav Suthar, who had taken four wickets in the first innings, took 6/55 in the second innings. With this, Suthar completed his first ten-fer in Test cricket in only his second Test match for India.
Devdutt Padikkal wins the Player of the Match
While Manav Suthar walked away with laurels with the ball, taking 10/131, it was Devdutt Padikkal who won the Player of the Match. He had made a scintillating 167 runs with 15 fours and one six in the first innings, as he shouldered the innings after India had lost a few quick wickets.
Then in the second innings, he started off positively but had to keep himself in check, scoring 44 runs in 75 balls, as others batted around him with aggression. He was also excellent in the field, taking a couple of catches.
The second and final Test of the series will be played from August 23 onwards at the SSC Ground in Colombo.
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