Sri Lanka have been very poor and they seemed to have given up as soon as the Test series commenced. The bowler wasted the conditions while the batters never exhibited the patience and positive intent – a defeat was always on the cards.
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— BCCI (@BCCI) March 14, 2022
On Day 1, Sixteen wickets fell on a pitch offering square turn and uncertain bounce from ball one, and India ended day one in a hugely dominant position.
The packed crowd that thronged the Chinnaswamy Stadium may have expected their spin trio to get them to that position; instead, it was Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami who took five of the six Sri Lankan wickets to fall, bowling with high pace and skill, and extracting maximum value from a pink ball that swung and seamed just enough under lights to keep threatening both edges.
Sri Lanka’s spinners, meanwhile, failed entirely to capitalise on the help they were getting, bowling too full or too short and allowing India to score at more than four runs an over on a pitch where they had no business doing so.
Shreyas Iyer led their charge to a first-innings total of 252, using his feet expertly and putting the spinners under immense pressure over the course of a counterattacking-innings of 92.
It was so one-sided that there was talk of a third-innings declaration in the fifth session of the match. Jasprit Bumrah completed his first five-for at home, Rishabh Pant casually knocked off the fastest Test fifty by an Indian, and Shreyas Iyer scored his second half-century of the match to bury Sri Lanka under a mountainous deficit.
Five-and-a-half hours of Sri Lanka’s bowling – improved but still lacking the control needed to exploit helpful conditions – were bookended by incisive half-hour spells of Indian bowling, which brought them five wickets.
The first half-hour took care of the four remaining Sri Lankan first-innings wickets; the last, under lights with a new pink ball, accounted for Lahiru Thirimanne in the second innings.
Shreyas Iyer is adjudged Man of the Match for his two brilliant innings in the Test.@Paytm #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/IbKsepvVRd
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 14, 2022
Sri Lanka must have started the day hoping to keep India out in the middle for some time, but they didn’t even last six overs. It was long enough for Bumrah to complete a five-wicket haul in a fifth different country. He preyed on the short-ball weakness of Lasith Embuldeniya before following Niroshan Dickwella with a short ball that took his glove. At the other end, R Ashwin took out two wickets with carrom balls.
Asked to bat for 35 minutes before stumps, Sri Lanka faced the wrath of Bumrah again.
All the hopes rested on their bowlers to give them half a chance, but Sri Lanka’s bowlers continued to waste the conditions.
All smiles after a maiden Test five-for at home ?
What a spell of fast bowling by Jasprit Bumrah ?#WTC23 | #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/tsFQeafgBk
— ICC (@ICC) March 13, 2022
India declared at 303 for 9.
On Day 5, For 173 balls, Dimuth Karunaratne defied India. In constructing a fine 14th Test century, he showed his teammates hitting your way out of trouble wasn’t the only way to succeed on a tough Bengaluru track that offered sharp turn and variable bounce. Then he got a pearl from Jasprit Bumrah that breached his defences.
CHAMPIONS #TeamIndia @Paytm #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/GhLlAl1H0W
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 14, 2022
Even someone as well set as he was couldn’t quite judge the extent of late inward movement on that full delivery, and that was that for Sri Lanka. In the face of a relentless attack, the others proved to be sitting ducks as their high-risk, high-returns strategy fell flat. India wrapped up an emphatic 2-0 series win inside two sessions on the third day at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The series lasted all of six days, with Sri Lanka’s 208 all out in their final innings being their highest total of the lot.
Note: Input from ESPNcricinfo