Nagpur Test: India beat Sri Lanka by an innings and 239 runs

Nagpur, November 27 : India trounced Sri Lanka by an innings and 239 runs to win the second cricket Test here on Monday. India dismissed Sri Lanka for 166 runs in 49.3 overs in their second innings just after lunch to wrap up the match well inside four days. Ravichandran Ashwin (4/63) picked up four wickets for India, while Ravindra Jadeja (2/28), Umesh Yadav (2/30) and Ishant Sharma (2/43) shared six wickets between them.
India, thus, took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Earlier, a lacklustre Sri Lanka reached 145 for eight at lunch as India were firmly in sight of their biggest innings win surpassing their previous innings and 239-run win over Bangladesh at Dhaka in 2007. Skipper Dinesh Chandimal (53 batting) hit his second half-century and giving him company at the lunch break was Suranga Laknmal (19), who survived a few risky shots.
Ashwin (3/50) is on 299 wickets in his 54th Test match.
One more wicket will take him past Dennis Lillee’s record of fastest 300 wickets in 56 games.
The manner of abject surrender in this Test match would certainly hurt the island nation, which till few years back was a force to reckon with in international cricket. Just like the Test matches in Sri Lanka, they lost the Test match well inside three and half days.Ishant Sharma (2/43 looked menacing as he bowled short and quick while Ravindra Jadeja (2/28) was the beneficiary of some sharp fielding from Murali Vijay and indiscretion from the part of opposition batsmen.
Dimuth Karunaratne (18) was the first to get out when he tried to flick Jadeja and Murali Vijay standing at short leg had the ball jam into him. The Tamil Nadu player showed good reflexes as Karunaratne was left stunned.
Lahiru Thirimanne (23), currently a senior player in the team, stunned one and all when he chased a wide delivery from Umesh Yadav to hand Jadeja at point the simplest of catches.
It was a shocking dismissal as the ball was on the imaginary sixth stump and should have been left alone.
Former captain Angelo Mathews (10) was expected to show some responsibility while batting alongside Chandimal but his choice of shot also left a lot to be desired.