Record breakers Jadeja, Ashwin lead dominant hosts to innings victory

Star all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin led India to a comprehensive win over Sri Lanka in the first Test between the two sides in Mohali. India won the match by an innings and 222 runs, dismissing Sri Lanka for 178 after having ended their first innings on 174 and enforced a follow-on. India have taken a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, with the second Test, which will be a day-night affair and played with the pink ball, set to be played in Bengaluru from March 12. 

Both Ashwin and Jadeja ended the second innings with four wickets each. This was after the latter had picked five in the first innings while Ashwin took two. It helped complete an all-round performance for the pair, having put India's strongest partnership to lead the hosts to a mammoth 574/8.

While Ashwin had scored 61 runs, Jadeja ended the innings unbeaten on  175. He is thus the first player in the history of Test cricket to score a 150 and take 10 wickets in the same match. Ashwin, on the other hand, has gone past former captain Kapil Dev to become India's second-highest Test wicket-taker of all time.

India left Sri Lanka tottering at 120/4 going into Tea on Day 3 on Sunday.

Charith Asalanka had ended the second session by smashing Jadeja for two fours and two sixes in an over. He fell to Ashwin soon after resumption of play. Jadeja then ended Angelo Mathews's stay in the middle after which Suranga Lakmal fell to him in the same over, thus taking his tally for the innings to three wickets.

Lasith Embuldeniya then stuck with Niroshan Dickwella for 85 deliveries, with the pair putting up 32 runs for the eighth wicket before he became Jadeja's fourth wicket of the innings.

Dickwella then played more than five overs with No.11 Lahiru Kumara, who was dealing with a hamstring injury. He scored his 19th Test half-century in 78 balls. Kumara fell soon to Ashwin, thus becoming his fourth wicket. Jadeja ended the match on nine wickets, just one scalp away from becoming the first player in the history of Test cricket to score a 150 and take 10 wickets in the same innings.  

He was already the first player to score a 150 and take five wickets in the same Test in men's cricket since Pakistan's Mushtaq Mohammad did it in 1973 against New Zealand.  

Resuming the post-lunch session at 10/1, Sri Lanka got off to a poor start losing Pathum Nissanka for six caught behind by wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant of Ravichandran Ashwin's bowling who bagged his 434th Test scalp equaling Kapil Dev's record.

Mohammed Shami was introduced into the attack and he dismissed Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne for 27 caught behind by Pant who took his second catch of the innings to leave visitors tottering at 45/3.

Dhananjaya de Silva and Angelo Mathews then struck a much-needed partnership but the 49-run stand was broken by Ravindra Jadeja who took his first wicket in 2nd innings and his sixth wicket in the match as Sri Lanka lost their fourth wicket for 94.

Charith Asalanka came in to bat after de Silva's dismissal and he played aggressively to score 20 runs in just 7 balls hitting two fours and two sixes as Sri Lanka went to Tea with 120 runs on board for the loss of 4 wickets trailing India by 280 runs.

Earlier, resuming Day 3 at 138/4 in the first innings, overnight batters Pathum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka added 53 runs more to the total, and this saw Nissanka going past his half-century. India finally got the breakthrough in the 58th over as Jasprit Bumrah got the better of Asalanka (29).

In the end, Sri Lanka were bundled out for 174, handing India a lead of 400 runs and the hosts enforced the follow-on.