Sri Lanka's Sonal Dinusha has entered an elite group of batters after becoming only the third player to score 80 or more in each of his first three Test innings against India, joining West Indies great Everton Weekes and Pakistan legend Zaheer Abbas. Dinusha reached the landmark during a stubborn innings on the third day of the second Test in Colombo, remaining unbeaten on 85 as Sri Lanka finished at 265 for eight after rain and bad light forced an early close. The 25-year-old left-hander had already made 100 and 84 in his first two Test innings against India, and his latest effort made him the first batter since Abbas in 1978 to achieve the feat. Abbas had scored 176, 96 and 235 not out in his first three innings against India, while Weekes made 128, 194 and 162 in 1948. Weekes went on to score centuries in each of his first four innings against India before being dismissed for 90 in his fifth.
Dinusha's latest innings also gave him a third consecutive 50-plus score against India, making him only the second Sri Lankan batter and 10th overall to achieve that feat in his first three Test innings against the opposition. The only Sri Lankan to previously accomplish it was Duleep Mendis, who scored 105, 105 and 51 in his first three Test innings against India. Dinusha's performance has been particularly striking given his comfort against spin. He has scored 106 runs through sweep shots — including conventional, slog and reverse sweeps — in the ongoing series, the most by a batter against spin in a Test series since ball-by-ball data became available in 2007 for the relevant shots. Joe Root holds the overall record in the category, having scored 160 runs through sweeps against Sri Lanka in 2021. Ben Duckett has 112 against Pakistan in 2022, while Root scored 106 against India in 2021. Dinusha has taken the sweep to another level in his short Test career. Of his 284 runs against spin, 122 — or 42.95 per cent — have come through sweep shots. He has scored those runs at a remarkable strike rate of 169.44, hitting 11 fours and four sixes without being dismissed playing the shot.
India appeared to be closing in on Sri Lanka's innings when the hosts resumed after tea at 216 for seven. Instead, Dinusha continued to frustrate the attack for 201 minutes. He first added 57 runs with Keshara Nuwantha for the eighth wicket before putting on an unbeaten 35 with Lahiru Kumara for the ninth. Nuwantha faced 74 deliveries, while Kumara survived for 65 minutes off 50 balls. Earlier, India had claimed four wickets for 86 runs in the middle session after Sri Lanka had added 122 in the morning. Manav Suthar dismissed Dhananjaya de Silva, Ravindra Jadeja removed Pasindu Sooriyabandara for 80 and Mohammed Siraj accounted for Niroshan Dickwella. But Dinusha's resistance ensured Sri Lanka remained alive at 265 for eight, still 238 runs behind India's 503 for nine and 38 runs short of avoiding the follow-on.
