Sonal Dinusha joins rare club after third hundred during IND vs SL Test series; list of records by Sri Lankan youngster

Sonal Dinusha continued Sri Lankan fightback with a gritty century on the fifth day of the second and final Test against India on Thursday in Colombo. It was Dinusha's third hundred in four innings, thus making him the third Sri Lankan cricketer to score three hundreds in a two-match Test series.

Playing just his fifth Test match, since his debut last year, Dinusha frustrated the Indians with his batting brilliance and stubborn resistance, along with the Sri Lankan tailenders in the first two sessions of the final day. Having already lost the first Test, Sri Lanka are desperate to save the second game.

Having started the day at 229/6, with a mere 16-run lead, it was Dinusha's bloody-mindedness to hold one fort in the middle. The visitors were expected to walk through the remaining Lankan batters on the final three sessions, but they first hit the roadblock against the Dinusha-Keshara Nuwantha (46, 150 balls) pair that forged 112 runs in 242 runs.

More than the runs, most important the seventh wicket partnership between Dinusha and Nuwantha consumed 174 minutes. Their effort ensured that Indian bowlers added one more chapter to their eons-old struggles against late order batters. While Sri Lanka lost two wickets on the day, Dinusha continued to be a thorn in the flesh for the Indians.

In the last four innings, Dinusha's scored read 100, 84, 103 and 104 not out (at the time of writing).

Sonal Dinusha's records in IND vs SL 2nd Test

• Dinusha became the eighth Sri Lankan batter to score hundreds in both innings of a single Test match. Previously, Aravinda de Silva (twice), Kumar Sangakkara (twice), Duleep Mendis, Asanka Gurusinha, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis achieved the feat.
• Overall, Dinusha became the 12th batter to score two hundreds in a Test match against India. The last time any cricketer achieved the feat was England's Jonny Bairstow (106 & 114 not out) at Edgbaston in 2022.
• Dinusha also became the third Sri Lankan batter to score two hundreds in a single Test match against India. Previously Duleep Mendis (105 & 105, Chennai, 1982) and Aravinda de Silva (146 & 120, Colombo, 1997) were the two to have achieved the feat.

Players with most hundreds in two-Test series

Meanwhile, the second Test ended in a draw, thank to Dinusha's gritty knock of 133 not out from 264 deliveries. Sri Lanka were 429/9 with no real chance of any outright result when the players shook hands. India won the series 1-0, but Sri Lanka will take a lot of heart from their fightback.