Ashwin takes 300th wicket as India thrash Sri Lanka

Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin surpassed Dennis Lillee to become the fastest bowler to capture 300 test wickets when he helped India thrash Sri Lanka by an innings and 239 runs to win the second test in Nagpur on Monday.
Ashwin took 4-63 in Sri Lanka’s second innings after also bagging four wickets in the first innings to take his career tally to exactly 300.
Ashwin reached the 300-wicket milestone in his 54th test appearance, two matches less than the previous record holder, former Australian paceman Lillee.
Ravindra Jadeja (2-28), Umesh Yadav (2-30) and Ishant Sharma (2-43) all captured two wickets each as Sri Lanka collapsed to 166 all out in their second innings just after lunch on the fourth day at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.
Trailing by 405 runs in the first innings, Sri Lanka’s final margin of defeat represented their biggest ever loss in a test match, and equaled India’s biggest ever victory.
After resuming on 21-1, the visitors lost seven wickets in the extended morning session then their last two after the resumption.
The Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal top scored with a defiant 61 — his second half-century of the match — and tailender Suranga Lakmal chipped in with an unbeaten 31 but few others offered any sustained resistance.
Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne added 13 to the overnight total before Karunaratne departed for 18, caught by Murali Vijay at forward short leg off Jadeja.
Thirimanne followed soon after for 23, caught at backward point off Yadav, then Angelo Mathews went for 10, holing out at mid-off off Jadeja as the wickets began to tumble rapidly.
Niroshan Dickwella was caught in the slips off Sharma for four then Dasun Shanka fell to Ashwin for 17.
Ashwin struck twice more after the umpires agreed to extend the session in the possibility of getting a result. He trapped Dilruwan Perera leg before wicket for a golden duck then had Rangana Herath caught at slip without scoring.
Chandimal’s resistance finally gave way after lunch when he fell to Yadav then Ashwin bowled Lahiru Garnaga for a duck to claim his 300th test victim and end the match.
The first test between the teams in Kolkata ended in a draw.
India struggled in the opening test but seized control of the second game after making an imposing total of 610-6 declared, with Virat Kohli (213) scoring his fifth test double hundred and three other batsmen, Vijay (128), Cheteshwar Pujara (143) and Rohit Sharma (102 not out) all scoring hundreds.

Source: arabnews