1st Test: India on verge of massive win as Sri Lanka four down in chase of 372
India are on the brink of victory in the first Test against Sri Lanka, having pulled the hosts down to just 84 runs for four wickets. Rishabh Pant's explosive innings of 66 has paved the way for a challenging target. Sri Lanka now confronts a daunting task on the final day, as India's bowlers tighten their grip with critical wickets already claimed.
Delhi witnessed India inching closer to a monumental victory in the first Test against Sri Lanka as the home bowlers orchestrated a ruthless final session. The visitors were reduced to 84 for four at stumps, putting them 288 runs away from their ambitious 372-run target. Prior to this, India had set a challenging score of 193 after a spectacular counter-attacking innings led by Rishabh Pant, Devdutt Padikkal, and KL Rahul.
Pant's typically audacious innings of 66 runs provided India with a commanding position, as he reached the milestone of scoring 100 sixes in Test cricket, becoming the first Indian player to achieve this feat and one of the fastest batters to do so. Padikkal contributed 44 runs, while Rahul added 35 runs to the total.
Sri Lanka, now facing a daunting final day against an Indian attack that has already made significant inroads, will be making a desperate bid to chase down the target. Captain Dhananjaya de Silva was unbeaten on 31 runs at the close, while Sonal Dinusha was on 25 runs. However, the scale of the challenge before Sri Lanka is evident, with the highest successful fourth-innings chase at Galle being Pakistan's 344 runs in 2022, and a target above 200 having been chased successfully only twice at the ground since 1998.
Written by urgent.news from Times of India's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
