Sonal Dinusha sets Test record for sweep shots in series against India

Sonal Dinusha finished the two-Test series against India with another century and a new Test record, scoring 176 runs through sweep shots, the most by any batter in a Test series. The 25-year-old left-hander remained unbeaten on 133 in Sri Lanka's second innings as the hosts forced a draw in the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo on Thursday.

India still won the two-match series 1-0 after their victory in Galle. Dinusha's unbeaten 133 came after his first-innings 103 in Colombo and his century in the first Test in Galle. It was his third hundred in four innings in the series. According to Cricinfo, Dinusha scored 176 runs through sweep shots across the series. The previous record was held by England's Joe Root, who scored 168 sweep-shot runs against Sri Lanka in 2021. Dinusha also attempted 121 sweep shots during the series, another record for the most sweeps played by a batter in a Test series. Root had attempted 113 sweeps in the 2021 series. After India enforced the follow-on with a first-innings lead of 213 runs, Sri Lanka batted for 243.4 overs across their two innings. Dinusha faced a total of 426 balls in the match.

He added 112 runs for the seventh wicket with Keshara Nuwantha, who scored 46, as the pair frustrated India's bowlers on the final day. Sri Lanka resumed Day 5 at 229/6 and continued batting until both teams agreed to end the match with the score at 429/9. Sri Lanka finished with an overall lead of 216 runs. For India, Manav Suthar returned figures of 3/121 in 41 overs, while Ravindra Jadeja took 3/94 in 38.3 overs. Dinusha also became only the sixth batter in Test history to score three centuries in a series while batting at No. 6 or lower. He is the first Sri Lankan to achieve that feat and the first player to do it in a two-match Test series. With his two centuries in Colombo, Dinusha also became only the fifth batter to score hundreds in both innings of a Test while batting at No. 6 or lower. Three of the previous four instances were also by Sri Lankan batters.