Manav Suthar took 10 wickets in Galle to seal India’s 165-run win over Sri Lanka in the 1st Test. Four of those wickets came in 10 balls. India’s 600th Test match ended with a 24-year-old left-arm spinner making the second new ball irrelevant.
Suthar’s match figures of 10/131 are the best by an Indian bowler at Galle, surpassing Harbhajan Singh’s 10/153 in 2008 and Ravichandran Ashwin’s 10/160 in 2015. He achieved them in only his second Test, having debuted against Afghanistan in June 2026.
Devdutt Padikkal, playing his first Test since November 2024 after replacing the injured Sai Sudharsan, scored 167 off 230 balls. It was his first century for India in any format. KL Rahul’s 82 gave him the platform, and India posted 462.
Sri Lanka’s reply crumbled to 90/5 before Sonal Dinusha and Niroshan Dickwella put on 146 for the sixth wicket. Dinusha scored his first Test century, Dickwella made 80. Suthar (4/76) and Ravindra Jadeja (3/57), who claimed his 350th Test wicket during the innings, pulled Sri Lanka back to 284.
India’s second innings produced only 193. Rishabh Pant’s counterattacking 66 off 69 balls stretched the lead past 370, and he became the fastest batter to 100 Test sixes, reaching the mark in just 89 innings.
Asitha Fernando took 4/31 and Prabath Jayasuriya 3/43. The target was 372.
Sri Lanka reached 84/4 at stumps on Day 4. Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinusha were both unbeaten.
The pair batted through the first 90 minutes of Day 5, adding 95 for the fifth wicket. De Silva cut Jadeja through point for his fifty off 125 balls. Dinusha launched Kuldeep Yadav over deep midwicket for six to reach his.
India’s spinners could not find a way through on a surface that was low and offered grip rather than sharp turn.
Jadeja broke the stand. A fuller delivery gripped and bounced, catching de Silva’s sweep on the top edge. The ball looped to Suthar at short fine leg. Sri Lanka 142/5, de Silva out for 59 off 151.
Prasidh Krishna removed Dickwella for 10. Dinusha and Keshara Nuwantha added 43 for the seventh wicket, and Dinusha was 16 runs from a second hundred in the match.
Then came the 76th over.
Manav Suthar’s six-wicket haul helps India to a stellar win in Galle 🤩#WTC27 📝: https://t.co/liWlnTP6ej pic.twitter.com/wpoSEEJY4U
— ICC (@ICC) August 19, 2026
Suthar flighted a ball outside leg stump to Dinusha. The extra bounce forced a glove, and Dhruv Jurel took the catch at leg gully. Next ball, Jayasuriya faced an in-drifter that gripped and clipped the top of off stump. Golden duck.
Kumara survived the hat-trick delivery. Two balls later, Suthar switched round the wicket and found Kumara’s outside edge. Pant completed the catch.
A triple-wicket maiden. Sri Lanka went from 199/6 to 199/9 in six balls.
Suthar returned in the 78th over to remove Nuwantha and complete the ten-wicket haul. India won by 165 runs. The second new ball was never taken.
The 76th Over Was Not About the Pitch
The Galle surface on Day 5 was flat and offered minimal bite. The ball to Dinusha was flighted with extra bounce outside leg, designed to exploit a batter who had been sweeping on autopilot after 200 balls. The in-drifter to Jayasuriya went straight on, using drift rather than spin. The delivery to Kumara came from a positional switch round the wicket, creating an angle the lower-order batter had not faced all day.
A spinner who relies on the surface needs only one trick. Suthar delivered three distinct balls for three consecutive dismissals on a pitch that was not helping him. India’s spinners could not do this when they lost to New Zealand and South Africa at home on surfaces that were designed to help them. Suthar manufactured his wickets with variation from the hand, not the ground. That is the difference between a bowler who waits for conditions and a bowler who creates them.
“He has 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.”
Shubman Gill, post-match presentation, August 19, 2026
India gained 12 World Test Championship points and remain fifth in the standings. Gautam Gambhir identified this series as one where India needed to tick specific boxes after their home collapses.
Winning away in Galle, on a pitch that rewarded patience over aggression, ticked the most important one: proof that India’s spin attack can function without extreme surfaces. The second Test begins on August 23 at SSC, Colombo. India need a 2-0 sweep to push their WTC points percentage to 57.58 and stay in contention for the final at The Oval in June 2027.
Scorecard: 1st Test, Galle, August 15-19, 2026
| 1st Innings | 2nd Innings | |
|---|---|---|
| India | 462 (Padikkal 167, Rahul 82; Jayasuriya 4/109) | 193 (Pant 66, Padikkal 44; Asitha 4/31, Jayasuriya 3/43) |
| Sri Lanka | 284 (Dinusha 100, Dickwella 80; Suthar 4/76, Jadeja 3/57) | 206 (Dinusha 84, de Silva 59; Suthar 6/55, Jadeja 2/16) |
Result: India won by 165 runs
Player of the Match: Devdutt Padikkal (167 & 44)
| Milestone | Detail |
|---|---|
| India’s 600th Test | First Asian team, third overall after England and Australia |
| Galle’s 50th Test | First Asian ground to host 50 Tests |
| Suthar 10/131 | Best match figures by an Indian at Galle |
| Jadeja 350 Test wickets | During Sri Lanka’s first innings |
| Pant 100th Test six | Fastest ever (89 innings) |
| Padikkal 167 | First century for India in any format |
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