India v Sri Lanka - Only Test

MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

India: SM Gavaskar, +FM Engineer, DB Vengsarkar, VL Manjrekar, PR Umrigar, *MAK Pataudi, Kapil Dev, M Prabhakar, J Srinath, DR Doshi, BS Chandrasekhar.
Sri Lanka: RS Mahanama, UC Hathurusingha, RL Dias, PA de Silva, *A Ranatunga, HP Tillakaratne, +RS Kaluwitharana, JR Ratnayeke, HDPK Dharmasena, RJ Ratnayake, GP Wickramasinghe.

Debuts: VL Manjrekar & DR Doshi (IND)
Umpires: Mahboob Shah (PAK) & D Sang Hue (WI)
Toss: India

Sri Lanka's first Test against India was played on a flat, slow wicket in Chennai, and as admirably as the tourists' bowlers stuck to their task the Indians ground their way to a first innings total of 503 before Pataudi declared on the second evening. Engineer's 82 gave India a brisk start, but Vengsarkar looked less than impressive, and despite reaching 72 his scratchy performance will have done little to push his claim for a place on the upcoming tour of West Indies. Polly Umrigar joined debutant Vijay Manjrekar upon Vengsarkar's dismissal at 217-3, and together the pair added 181 as the hosts batted themselves into a very strong position.

Vijay Manjekar unleashes a rare attacking stroke

Umrigar posted a fluent 144, his highest ATG score, and Manjekar marked his debut with a century of his own, but it was more a feeling of relief than anything else when he finally got there, having faced 272 deliveries after five and a quarter hours at the crease. India's progress meandered somewhat once the partnership was broken, but following Pataudi's declaration Chandrasekhar removed the dangerous Mahanama before stumps, and an attritional third day saw Sri Lanka edge towards saving the follow-on, thanks in the main to Hathurusingha's maiden ATG century.

Sri Lanka were a perilous 82-4 at one stage but Hathurusingha held firm, taking 150 balls to get to 50, and after being dropped twice in consecutive overs he moved through the gears, needing just 63 more deliveries to able to raise his bat to the crowd once again. A trademark inducker from Prabhakar cleaned him up almost immediately after though, but a 69 run stand for the seventh wicket between Tillakaratne and Kaluwitharana took the score to 262-7, and by the close of play on day three the Sri Lankans were just 6 runs away from avoiding the follow-on with their last pair at the wicket.

Hathurusingha's hundred kept
Sri Lanka afloat in their first innings

A boundary from Wickramasinghe sealed the deal early on the fourth morning, but a final total of 307 still gave India a lead of 196, and with the pitch now starting to exhibit some signs of uneven bounce as the cracks began to open the hosts were still in a very dominant position. Led by a confident 64 from Gavaskar and a solid 59 from Manjrekar, India were able to build up a lead of over 400 by the time Pataudi declared for the second time in the match, but an excellent bowling performance from Ravi Ratnayeke had kept the scoring rate in check, and he fully deserved to pick up the second five wicket haul of his fledgling ATG career.

Sri Lanka were now faced with the prospect of batting for three and a half sessions to save the game, but Kapil Dev was able to nip out both openers before stumps with just 24 runs on the board, and it was not until Tillakaratne joined his skipper, Arjuna Ranatunga, at the wicket on the final morning that the tourists looked capable of offering any resistance. The pair batted together for almost two hours in adding 81 for the fifth wicket until a well disguised slower ball from Srinath sent Tillakaratne on his way for 34, and when Chandrasekhar eventually prised Ranatunga from the crease for 66, Sri Lanka's chances of avoiding defeat looked slim with the scoreboard reading 189-6 and almost three hours' play remaining.

Ranatunga's 66 spanned the best part of three hours

India's bowlers chipped away the tail, and although a brave last wicket stand between Ratnayeke and Wickramasinghe threatened to provide the game with one last twist, India's two debutants combined to wrap up the win with an hour to spare when Ratnayeke drove Doshi to Manjrekar at cover for a fighting 27. A margin of 162 runs suggested an easy victory for the Indians, but Sri Lanka put up an admirable fight, and although they have now lost each one of their five ATG Tests, they will head into their two Test tour of New Zealand hopeful of causing an upset. India meanwhile next face an arduous tour of the Caribbean, and they will have no illusions about the size of the task that awaits them there.

Score Summary
IND 1st Inns 503-7 dec. (Umrigar 144, Manjrekar 113, Engineer 82, Vengsarkar 72, Prabhakar 40*)
SL 1st Inns 307 (Hathurusingha 101, Kaluwitharana 58, Tillakaratne 40; Chandrasekhar 4-54)
IND 2nd Inns 214-8 dec. (Gavaskar 64, Manjrekar 59; Ratnayeke 5-40)
SL 2nd Inns 248 (Ranatunga 66)

INDIA WON BY 162 RUNS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - India 1st innings 310-3 (Manjrekar 72*, Umrigar 71*; 97 ov)
Day 2 - Sri Lanka 1st innings 33-1 (Hathurusingha 15*, Dharmasena 0*; 17 ov)
Day 3 - Sri Lanka 1st innings 298-9 (Ratnayake 3*; 102.5 ov)
Day 4 - Sri Lanka 2nd innings 35-2 (Dias 14*, de Silva 4*; 13 ov)
Day 5 - Sri Lanka 2nd innings 248 (96.4 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Manjekar is the second Indian and seventeenth overall to make a hundred on debut
▪ Manjrekar's hundred (272 balls) was the ninth slowest in history
▪ Gavaskar passed 5000 career runs

Man of the Match: VL Manjrekar