Dhananjaya De Silva and Roshen Silva battled hard amidst all odds for Sri Lanka to draw the third and final Test match against India at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, Delhi.
Despite the drawn match, India won the three-match series, 1-0 after their innings and 239-run bashing in Nagpur in the second Test.
De Silva made a 219-ball 119 – the first fourth-innings ton overseas by a Sri Lankan in ten years – before being forced to retire hurt with glute muscle tightness in the second session on the final day while debutant Silva hanged in till the end to remain unbeaten on 74 along with Niroshan Dickwella who scored an impressive 44 not out as Sri Lanka ended on 299/5 – the highest 4th innings score against India in India.
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De Silva stood up, combining patience with aggression to register his 3rd Test century. He received good support first from Dinesh Chandimal (36) and then Silva. The de Silva-Chandimal partnership lasted 33 overs while the de Silva-Silva stand stretched for 21 overs before the former walked off.
“our batting coach said, ‘if you can score runs here, the whole world will know you can score runs’. I wanted to impress the coaching staff and prove that I can do well at the International level. I guess I grabbed the opportunity.” Debutant Silva said.
Earlier, Sri Lanka started the day with their backs against the wall at 31 for 3. The visitors lost Angelo Mathews, who nicked to the slips off Ravindra Jadeja for just 1 run.
Chandimal was bowled off a no-ball on 24 with less than ten minutes left for lunch as Jadeja produced a stunning delivery that went past the outside edge to hit off-stump, but the third umpire, ruled it a no-ball in the favour of the batsman, much to the dismay of the Indian camp.
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Ashwin provided the breakthrough soon after lunch. He dragged Chandimal down the track with flight and then deceived him with drift and sharp turn to hit the off-stump.
The 112-run fifth wicket stand ended with almost two sessions remaining and Sri Lanka were in danger of being rolled over.
De Silva began the second session with a flurry of boundaries that took him to his 90s, before slowing down due to cramps.
Silva and Dickwella saw through Sri Lanka till the end adding 94 runs in 27 overs before the Indian captain Virat Kohli who was named Man of the Series and Man of the Series, called off the match with 30 minutes remaining.
“It was a really good series. Apart from the second game, we played some good cricket. When Angelo performs well, the youngsters will watch him how to go about it. Credit to Dhananjaya and Roshen Silva in tough conditions against great bowlers. I’ve done a lot of hard work. I’ve made changes in my technique, and have worked with the batting coach.” Sri Lanka Captain Dinesh Chandimal said after play.
