Sri Lanka lose first Test against India by 165 runs

Sri Lanka suffered a 165-run defeat to India on the final day of the first Test in Galle on Thursday (August 19).

Set a target of 371 to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 206 in the penultimate session of the Test.

The defeat leaves Sri Lanka winless against India in Tests for over 10 years, with their last victory in the format coming at the same venue in 2015.

Having won the toss, India chose to bat first and were bowled out for 462, with their number three batsman Devdutt Padikkal top-scoring with 167.

In response, Sri Lanka lost their first five wickets for 90 runs and were bowled out for 284, a first-innings deficit of 178.

25-year-old Sonal Dinusha scored his first century in international cricket, and Niroshan Dickwella contributed 80, but the rest
of Sri Lanka’s batters failed to add meaningful runs.

India were bowled out for 193 in their second innings as they looked to add quick runs to their lead, leaving Sri Lanka with 371 to win.

Despite valiant efforts from Dinusha and captain Dhananjaya de Silva, Sri Lanka never looked on track to chase down the target and were bundled out for 206.

Left-arm spinner Manav Suthar took six wickets in Sri Lanka’s second innings, adding to his four dismissals in the hosts' first innings, to finish with a match haul of 10 for 131.