Sports
Ashwin fifer scripts innings & 132-run victory for India
Ravichandran Ashwin bagged his 31st Test five-fer as Australia crumbled to a massive defeat by an innings and 132 runs in the first Test of the Border – Gavaskar Trophy.
After India’s lower order had stretched their first innings lead to 223 in the morning session, Australia were rolled over after Lunch as the spinners ruled the roost once again, this time led by their offspinner who hadn’t got a five-fer in ten previous Tests.
In this innings, Ashwin was brought on to open the attack unlike the first where he came on as the fifth bowler. And the move paid dividends early as Ashwin lured Usman Khawaja into a second cover drive in the over and had him caught at slip. Ashwin could have had the other left-handed opener, Warner early as well if only Virat Kohli had held onto a regulation take at slip. But instead he had to wait a little while longer, where Warner drove him for back-to-back boundaries but soon had him trapped LBW with a ball going straight on from around the wicket. Warner’s review went in vain as DRS adjudged it be clipping the leg stump.
In between these scalps, India struck from the other end as well with Ravindra Jadeja trapping Marnus Labuschagne plumb in front with the batter guilty of staying back on a turner. Ashwin, meanwhile, was relentless from one end. He had Matt Renshaw too taking a review in hope, after pinging him on the backfoot while trying to defend, and then had Peter Handscomb LBW on the frontfoot with DRS siding him each time. It worked in his favour again when Alex Carey missed a reverse sweep and was adjudged LBW on the field. That gave him a five-fer and stamped his dominance over the left-handers in the top order cleaning them all up single-handedly.
The only batter to offer some defiance through the carnage was Steve Smith, who managed to hang around with some confidence at one end. But the collapse was rapid at the other end. Jadeja had Pat Cummins caught behind while Axar Patel contributed with the wicket of Todd Murphy.
Jadeja nearly had his third when he beat Smith’s inside edge to bowl him for the second time in the Test. However, Smith got a reprieve with Jadeja overstepping for the fifth time in the Test. But Australia’s joy was short-lived as Shami had Scott Boland LBW in the next over to hand India a massive win.
Their batting show was also a far cry from how India’s lower order had progressed earlier in the day, with the home team digging deep to bat nearly 140 overs. India’s lower order wagged once again on the third morning as they added 78 runs even as Todd Murphy finished with a seven-wicket haul.
The offspinner got an early breakthrough when Ravindra Jadeja was bowled on 70 shouldering arms. With both offspinners getting some purchase early in the day, there was a possibility of an early wrap up to the innings.
Mohammed Shami was then put down by Scott Boland off Nathan Lyon which turned out to be costly. Shami proceeded to dominate a 52-run stand with Axar Patel hitting three sixes and two fours in his 37. This ensured that India’s lead went past 200.
Shami finally fell trying to hit Murphy and instead got a top edge that was snapped up by the keeper.
Mohammad Siraj then managed to hold one end up with tight defence as Axar went a little more adventurous in pursuit of his maiden Test hundred. The last wicket pair added 20 runs before the allrounder was eventually bowled off a slower ball from Pat Cummins with India finishing on an even 400, a score that proved 132 too many for Australia to reach parity.
Brief Scores:
Australia 177 all out (Marnus Labuschagne 49; R Jadeja 5/47) & 91 all out (Steve Smith 25*; Ashwin 5-37) lost to India 400 all out (Rohit Sharma 120, Ravindra Jadeja 70, Axar Patel 84; Todd Murphy 7-124) by an innings and 132 runs
India capped off a dominant tri-series campaign in Colombo with a resounding win over Sri Lanka, posting their highest-ever women’s ODI total on Sri Lankan soil—344 for five —before bowling the hosts out for 245.
Smriti Mandhana led the charge with a superb 11th ODI hundred—her first against Sri Lanka—anchoring partnerships of 70 with Pratika Rawal and 120 with Harleen Deol.
Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Jemimah Rodrigues chipped in with brisk 40s, while India smashed 90 runs in the last 10 overs.
Despite a spirited effort, Sri Lanka’s daunting chase faltered. Chamari Atapattu’s 50 and a few half-century stands weren’t enough to close the gap. Seamer Amanjot Kaur struck early, removing two of the top three, while offspinner Sneh Rana starred with four for 38, finishing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker.
India’s batting wasn’t without drama—Rawal survived an early chance, and Mandhana was twice let off before unleashing her full range of strokes. She was especially brutal on Atapattu, sweeping her repeatedly through square leg and cover en route to a 92-ball century.
Amanjot’s return in the middle overs derailed the chase further, bowling Gunaratne and setting up Rana’s match-turning spell. Atapattu, despite reaching her 19th ODI fifty, was undone by Rana, who later removed three more to slam the door shut.
Late resistance from Sanjeewani and Kumari delayed the inevitable, but a run-out and two quick Rana strikes wrapped up the win.
India’s comprehensive display sent a strong message ahead of the Women’s World Cup, reaffirming their title credentials.
Brief scores:
India
342 for seven (Mandhana 116, Rodrigues 44, Kumari 2-59) beat Sri Lanka 245 (Atapattu 51, Rana 4-38, Amanjot 3-54) by 97 runs.
Apna Perera and Dinara de Silvaemerged as the men’s and women’s singles champions respectively at the 110th Colombo Championships continued at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association clay courts.
In the men’s singles final, Apna beat Ashen Silva 7-6, 6-1. Dinara registered convincing 6-1, 6-2 win over Venuli Jayasinghe in the women’s final.
In the boys’ Under 18 semi-finals, Ashlin de Silva beat Nethmika Wickramasinghe 6-2, 6-1 while Mayooran Kubheran beat Aahil Kaleel 6-7, 7-6, 6-4.
National champion Chamod Yodasinghe secured a creditable second place rank for an impressive performace of 10.27 seconds as he out did a strong field in the 100 metres at the Dubai Grand Prix on Friday.
Yodasinghe who was entered only for the 4x100m relay received a golden opportunity in Dubai when his request to run the 100 metres there was granted by the organisers. The athlete trained by sprint coach Sanjeewa Weerakkody equalled his personal best (10.27 seconds) in winning his race.
Incidentally, his winning time was second only to the winner of the first race where top ranked athletes including Yupun Abeykoon competed.
Oman’s Ali Al Balooshi was the fastest as he clocked 10.19 seconds while Abeykoon finished fifth with a time of 10.39 seconds.
Abeykoon who was making his first 100 metres appearance of the year was ranked sixth overall.
In the 4×100 metres relay Sri Lanka’s quartet finished third in a time of 39.41 seconds.
Yodasinghe will next compete at the Asian Athletics Championships later this month.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s 4×400 metres mixed relay team finished last in their heat at the World Relays in China yesterday.
by Reemus Fernando
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