Sri Lanka's Sensational Win Over India Leaves Angelo Mathews Speechless

After India were subjected to defeat in a Test many thought they should have won, Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews marveled at the sensational turnaround, inspired by Dinesh Chandimal's unbeaten 162 and Rangana Herath's second innings haul of 7/48. (Report | Scorecard | Highlights)

India were in the driver's seat by the end of the second day, leading by 187 runs. Sri Lanka were tottering at 5/2 in their second essay and Ravichandran Aswhin and Amit Mishra were spewing venom on a pitch that offered considerable turn and bounce to the spinners. But then Chandimal's masterful knock and substantial contributions from the lower-middle order helped the hosts set India a tricky 176 runs to win. No team had got those many on the fourth innings of a Test in Galle ever. The previous highest target successfully chased down was 99/3, when the hosts defeated Pakistan in August last year.

Herath, who looked indifferent in the first innings, ripped through the Indian batting line-up on Day 4, pocketing his 22nd five-wicket haul in the process.

"What a turnaround this has been. I am speechless. It's a great effort. It was a poor batting performance in the first innings but we came back well," Mathews said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

"Chandimal was outstanding; he single-handedly got us to a fighting score. The wicket was pretty demanding. We were down and out for three-and-a-half days. We have good quality spinners. We just had to go out there and try to be positive and bowl in good areas. They had three spinners and the wicket was turning quite a lot. We had to play positively, we had to play our shots, sweeps and reverse sweeps."

Sri Lanka would be boosted by this victory, especially after a disastrous time against Pakistan, where they lost the Test, ODI and T20I series. India meanwhile will be left with plenty to ponder over before the second Test which starts from August 20 in Colombo.