Suthar’s 10-wicket haul hands India a 165-run win on Day 5 in Galle
Manav Suthar took 10 wickets in the match as India beat Sri Lanka by 165 runs on Day 5 of the opening Test in Galle on August 19, 2026, with the final wicket falling just before rain arrived.
Shubman Gill described the victory in India’s 600th Test as “a very satisfying win”, saying the team had been under pressure at times because of the weather but had responded well. Gill also defended India’s aggressive batting in the third innings, saying: “Honestly, not really, you know. We were wanting to get around 400 in the third innings that we were batting, so the wicket wasn't easy to score runs at will, and we were looking to play a little bit more aggressively in the third innings because we wanted that many overs and we were not sure how many overs we'd be able to bowl on Day 4 and 5, so that was a tough process and in that process we lost some early wickets, but I think overall we were still in a comfortable position.” He added praise for Suthar and KL Rahul: “He's been bowling magnificently, even in the first match that he played in India and in this match, he looks like a very promising guy and someone who can play for India for a very long time,” and on Rahul: “He was magnificent to watch, you know. It's important to get 100s, but even after getting 100, how he carried on and got a big one for us, you know, that's the difference between, you know, being in a competitive match and being in a comfortable position.”
Suthar finished the match by bowling Keshara Nuwantha to an inside edge that crashed into the stumps, prompting handshakes in the Indian dugout and immediate on-field celebrations. The report notes rain arrived shortly after that last wicket, with commentators saying India had completed the job just in time.
Earlier in the same over Suthar removed Lahiru Kumara, who was given out caught behind after edging a flighted delivery through to Pant, and Prabath Jayasuriya, who was out for 0 (1) to a delivery that beat the outside edge and hit the off stump; those dismissals left Sri Lanka 199/9 in 75.2 overs with Keshara Nuwantha 18* at that stage. Suthar’s spell produced three wickets in the over as India moved to the cusp of victory.
Suthar’s earlier breakthrough in that passage removed Sonal Dinusha for 84 (128), caught at leg slip off a delivery that took the inside edge to the keeper; the live updates recorded the score as SL 199/7 in 75.1 overs when Dinusha fell. The commentary noted that a second century in the Test slipped away and suggested Dinusha had shown enough to be an important player for Sri Lanka going forward.
India rotated their attack through the day with Ravindra Jadeja and Suthar being brought back into the attack and Prasidh Krishna also contributing with wickets after Sri Lanka’s resilient resistance early in the session. The coverage detailed that Jadeja removed Dhananjaya de Silva when a paddle-sweep did not come off and Prasidh accounted for Dickwella following some on-field exchanges with Jaiswal; those wickets swung the session firmly in India’s favour.
Devdutt Padikkal, named Player of the Match, reflected on the venues he has played at and on the surface in Galle: “It's been one of those things in my career, I think. I started in Dharamsala, then Test in Perth, and now Galle. I couldn't have asked for anything better. The game was amazing. I think we played some really good cricket and I'm really happy with the win,” and on the wicket: “Definitely, I think the wicket had its natural wear and tear, but I think it was a great Test match wicket. I think all five days it played pretty well. It definitely started to turn a lot more from the third day onwards, but I think at the end of the day it was all about who came out better in terms of their skill sets, and I think we did that well.” He added on the prevalence of left-handers: “I think not really, but it's been very dominated by left-arm spinners bowling a lot, and I think that contributes to that,” and “Obviously, it was a bit of a slowish wicket. It wasn't providing that much bite off the wicket, so the left-handers were able to negotiate the left spinners much better.”
Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva said his side had remained competitive after the first day and acknowledged the toss may have helped India: “From the second day onwards, I thought we were mostly in the game,” he said. “It was good to bat on the first three days, I thought,” and on the toss: “Maybe, yeah, because they won the toss and got the runs on the board. When we got in, we just lost an early wicket and we were down and under from there.” KL Rahul said the team had been conscious of the weather and the need to press for wickets: “I’m just relieved, honestly. We kept looking at the clouds and knew there was one big shower coming, so we didn’t want to delay the game. We were trying to get the wickets as quickly as we could.”
Coverage closed with an invitation to follow the remainder of the series: See you for the 2nd Test.
