Virat Kohli’s 100th Test could not have gone more to plan for India as they registered an emphatic victory by an innings and 222 runs against Sri Lanka in the first Test of the two-match series at Mohali’s Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium. Ravindra Jadeja was the star of the game for India with a stunning all-round performance.
After India won the toss and chose to bat first, they put up a massive score of 574/8 with Jadeja top-scoring with an unbeaten knock of 175. Rishabh Pant made a quick-fire knock of 96 in 97 balls while both Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari scored a half-century.
In his landmark Test, Kohli played a solid knock of 45. Jadeja was invovled in three-century partnerships through his marathon knock. The star all-rounder put up a 100-run stand with Pant, Ashwin, and Mohammed Shami.
With the ball, Jadeja once again led the way for India with a five-wicket haul as Sri Lanka were dismissed for just 174 runs giving the hosts a massive 400-run lead. After Rohit Sharma decided to enforce the follow-on, the second innings followed a similar story as the visitors were bowled out for 178. Jadeja and Ashwin both took four wickets in the second innings.
On Sunday, both Ashwin and Jadeja broke plenty of records in Mohali. Jadeja became only the third Indian cricket to score a knock of 150+ plus and take a five-wicket haul and joined Vinoo Mankad and Polly Umrigar in the elite list. Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin upstaged Kapil Dev to become the second-highest wicket-taker for India in Test cricket.
The two teams will now face each other in the second and final Test of the series from March 12 in Bengaluru which will be a day-night Test match. It will only be the third pink-ball Test to be held in India.
