Galle Test: Pant, bowlers push India towards big win vs SL

Kolkata: Rishabh Pant dazzled with a whirlwind fifty before India’s bowlers struck on a worn Galle pitch to leave themselves six wickets from a deserved victory in the first Test against Sri Lanka on Tuesday. KODIKARA / AFP) (AFP)The hosts still needed 288 runs.

At stumps, Sri Lanka were 84/4 with skipper Dhananjaya de Silva (31) and first-innings centurion Sonal Dinusha (25) together. India had begun Day 4 with a lead of 178, but the possibility of leaving themselves too little time to bowl Sri Lanka out remained.

What Happened

Instead, India’s lower middle order took the decision out of their hands. Pant was central to this effort, hitting 66 off just 69 balls while entering Test cricket’s six-hitting elite by becoming the first Indian to reach the 100 mark.

• India's Rishabh Pant plays a shot during the fourth day of the first Test cricket match between Sri Lanka and India at the Galle International Stadium in Galle on August 18, 2026.

• Only once before has a team successfully chased more than 300 in a Test at Galle — Pakistan’s 342/6 in 2022.

• The equation is simple from here — India need six wickets, Sri Lanka a mountain to climb at this coastal venue.

Key Details

Currently level with Adam Gilchrist and behind Ben Stokes (138) and Brendon McCullum (107), Pant reached the mark in only his 51st Test, almost half the time taken by the others. He is also the fastest by elapsed time from Test debut.

• The arithmetic of the hosts surviving is not high on a pitch moving steadily towards the abrasive, unpredictable surface Galle tends to become late in a Test.

• On a day of extended sessions, Sri Lanka finished on 84 for four, still facing an improbable victory target.

• Even when wickets didn’t come, India ensured the singles were hard-earned and boundaries felt like events.

Why It Matters

Pant’s innings, however, was an aberration given how Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers had made India work throughout the day. Asitha Fernando and Lahiru Kumara kept peppering India with the short ball and shared six wickets, while Prabath Jayasuriya returned 3/43.

• Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Suthar operated with close catchers around the bat, while Krishna continued to make the batters uncomfortable with bounce.

• Dhananjaya absorbed 69 balls for his 31, while Dinusha applied himself with a determined defence and the occasional release shot, like a swept boundary against Ravindra Jadeja and a lofted drive against Suthar.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Continued reporting by Hindustan Times as more details emerge