Advertisement<\/span><\/aside>\nBut Sonal Dinusha had different plans.<\/p>\n
The left-hander stood between India and victory. More importantly, he did not fight alone. He gave confidence to the lower-order batters, trusted them to survive at the other end and kept the scoreboard moving whenever the opportunity was there.<\/p>\n
Sonal Dinusha Century Frustrates India on Day 5<\/h2>\n Dinusha had several tasks when he walked out to bat on the final morning.<\/p>\n
The first was simple but extremely difficult \u2014 survive the opening hour.<\/p>\n
The second was to lift the confidence of a Sri Lankan side that had already lost six wickets and looked close to defeat.<\/p>\n
His third, and perhaps biggest, task was to make Keshara Nuwantha and the remaining lower-order batters believe that they could survive against the Indian attack.<\/p>\n
Dinusha managed all three.<\/p>\n
He did not go completely into a shell either. Whenever a single was available, he took it. Whenever India offered a boundary opportunity, he was ready to put the bad ball away.<\/p>\n
That balance between survival and run-scoring was one of the best parts of his innings.<\/p>\n
Keshara Nuwantha Plays a Huge Role<\/h2>\n Dinusha deserves most of the headlines, but Keshara Nuwantha\u2019s contribution should not be forgotten.<\/p>\n
Nuwantha had already shown his ability to survive with the bat in Sri Lanka\u2019s first innings, when he faced 74 deliveries for his 18 runs.<\/p>\n
His effort in the second innings was even better.<\/p>\n
Starting the final day on just 3 off 29 balls, Nuwantha went on to score 46 from 150 deliveries. He and Dinusha added 112 runs from 242 balls for the seventh wicket.<\/p>\n
That partnership completely changed the mood of the Test.<\/p>\n
India started the morning believing that four wickets could come quickly. Instead, Dinusha and Nuwantha batted through the entire first session without losing a wicket.<\/p>\n
Sri Lanka reached 329\/6 at lunch, with Dinusha on 55 and Nuwantha on 46.<\/p>\n
More than the runs, it was the number of deliveries they consumed that hurt India.<\/p>\n
The partnership slowly frustrated the Indian bowlers. The plans that had worked on Day 4 were no longer producing wickets, while time was disappearing from the game.<\/p>\n
Dinusha Refuses to Give Up After Nuwantha\u2019s Wicket<\/h2>\n India finally got the breakthrough after lunch when Manav Suthar dismissed Nuwantha for 46 off 150 balls.<\/p>\n
However, Dinusha did not lose his concentration.<\/p>\n
That was another impressive part of his innings. Even after losing the partner who had stayed with him for more than 40 overs, he continued to trust the remaining batters.<\/p>\n
Prabath Jayasuriya also spent valuable time in the middle before Ravindra Jadeja removed him.<\/p>\n
Then came Lahiru Kumara.<\/p>\n
Kumara had already shown his fighting ability with the bat in the first innings, scoring 12 from 58 balls. Once again, his job was not about scoring quickly. It was about surviving, supporting Dinusha and taking time out of the game.<\/p>\n
He did exactly that.<\/p>\n
Dinusha, at the other end, continued to control the innings and eventually completed another outstanding hundred.<\/p>\n
Three Centuries in Four Innings for Sonal Dinusha<\/h2>\n This has been an unbelievable series for Sonal Dinusha.<\/p>\n
His four scores against India in the two-Test series were:<\/p>\n
100, 84, 103 and another century in Colombo.<\/strong><\/p>\nThree centuries and one score of 84 in four innings tell you everything about the kind of series he has had.<\/p>\nAdvertisement<\/span><\/aside>\nIn Galle, he scored 100 in the first innings when Sri Lanka were under pressure and followed it with 84 in the second innings.<\/p>\n
Then came Colombo.<\/p>\n
Dinusha scored 103 from 162 balls in Sri Lanka\u2019s first innings. Despite his effort, India enforced the follow-on after taking a 213-run lead.<\/p>\n
He was then asked to do it all over again.<\/p>\n
And he did.<\/p>\n
Scoring runs is one thing, but doing it repeatedly when your team is under pressure is what makes this series special for Dinusha.<\/p>\n
His fitness, temperament and resilience have been outstanding throughout the series.<\/p>\n
India simply did not find a consistent answer to him.<\/p>\n
Pasindu Sooriyabandara Also Deserves Huge Credit<\/h2>\n While Dinusha was Sri Lanka\u2019s standout batter in the series, Pasindu Sooriyabandara played a massive role in keeping the Colombo Test alive.<\/p>\n
Sooriyabandara scored 80 from 133 balls in the first innings.<\/p>\n
He went even closer to a century in the second innings, making 92 from 173 deliveries.<\/p>\n
His partnership with Kamindu Mendis gave Sri Lanka the foundation they desperately needed after being asked to follow on.<\/p>\n
Kamindu also played an important innings, scoring 55 from 92 balls.<\/p>\n
Without the work done by Sooriyabandara and Kamindu on Day 4, Dinusha and the lower order would never have had the platform to produce their final-day resistance.<\/p>\n
India\u2019s Bowling Looked Short of Answers<\/h2>\n India had every reason to believe they could complete a 2-0 series win when Day 5 started.<\/p>\n
Sri Lanka had only four wickets left and a lead of just 16 runs.<\/p>\n
However, as the Dinusha-Nuwantha partnership grew, the Indian attack started looking increasingly frustrated.<\/p>\n
The bowlers kept working hard, but the breakthrough did not arrive in the first session. The new ball also failed to produce the quick wickets India were looking for.<\/p>\n
Once Sri Lanka survived the morning session, the pressure slowly moved back towards India.<\/p>\n
This was the kind of partnership that does not just add runs. It takes time out of the game and starts creating doubts in the fielding side.<\/p>\n
Dinusha and Nuwantha did exactly that.<\/p>\n
Colombo Test Result Hurts India\u2019s WTC Campaign<\/h2>\n India will still take the series 1-0 after winning the opening Test in Galle by 165 runs, but the Colombo Test will leave them frustrated.<\/p>\n
A 2-0 victory was there for the taking, especially after India posted 503\/9 declared and then forced Sri Lanka to follow on.<\/p>\n
Dropping points from that position could prove costly in the World Test Championship race.<\/p>\n
However, it would be wrong to say India\u2019s chances of reaching the WTC Final are completely over but after this draw now their hopes of reaching in WTC final is nearly impossible.<\/p>\n
The dropped points make the road much harder, and India will now have very little margin for error in their remaining Test matches.<\/p>\n
A Test to Remember for Sonal Dinusha<\/h2>\n India may have won the series 1-0, but the Colombo Test will be remembered for Sri Lanka\u2019s resistance and, above everything else, the Sonal Dinusha century<\/strong>.<\/p>\nHe scored runs when Sri Lanka needed them. He survived when India were attacking. He trusted the tailenders and took them along with him.<\/p>\n
Three centuries and an 84 in four innings against India is a special series by any standard.<\/p>\n
Pasindu Sooriyabandara laid an important foundation in Colombo, Keshara Nuwantha produced one of the most valuable lower-order knocks of the match, and Lahiru Kumara showed tremendous patience.<\/p>\n
But at the centre of Sri Lanka\u2019s fight was Dinusha.<\/p>\n
India kept searching for a way past him throughout the series. In Colombo, when his team looked almost certain to lose, Sonal Dinusha stood up once again and turned a seemingly lost Test into a remarkable Sri Lankan fightback.<\/p>\n