Jurel waited out the rain on 95, and finished 115 not out as India declared on 503
Rain stopped Dhruv Jurel five short of a century in Colombo. He completed it after the break, and India’s first innings closed on 503 for 9 with him not out on 115.
Aug 24, 2026
Dhruv Jurel had been batting for close to five hours at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Monday when the rain arrived and left him on 95. Tea was taken early, the covers went on, and the wait stretched out. When the players came back he took the runs he needed, and India eventually declared their first innings closed on 503 for 9 with Jurel unbeaten on 115.
Five hours and 177 balls
Jurel walked out at 296 for 5 late on the opening day, with Devdutt Padikkal already back in the pavilion for 117 and Ravindra Jadeja bowled for 43. He was 7 not out at stumps on day one. He was still there at the declaration on day two, 177 balls and 291 minutes later, having hit nine fours and two sixes.
It is the second Test century of his career, and it came in the least glamorous way available. There was no burst of scoring, no obvious moment where the innings changed gear. He reached 50 off 97 balls and 100 off 171, which is close to the same rate for the whole knock, and he spent the middle of it farming the strike with Manav Suthar and Mohammed Siraj for company.
Pant came back and made 63
The partnership that put India out of reach was the seventh-wicket stand with Rishabh Pant, worth 112 in 151 balls. That it happened at all was the surprise. Pant had retired hurt on 3 on the first day after a Lahiru Kumara bouncer struck him on the left wrist as he tried to pull it. The wrist was taped and he still could not carry on. India lost three more wickets without him and were 307 for 6 when he walked back out on Monday morning.
He made 63 off 89 balls with six fours and two sixes before Keshara Nuwantha had him caught by Lahiru Udara, and by then the innings had gone from awkward to comfortable. India were 300 for 5 at the start of the day and 419 for 6 at lunch.
Asitha again
Asitha Fernando finished with 4 for 106 from 29 overs, and he was the only Sri Lanka bowler who looked like taking wickets for long stretches of it. He bowled five maidens and took the wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja and the debutant Saransh Jain.
Behind him the returns were thinner. Prabath Jayasuriya sent down 42 overs and took two for 132. Nuwantha’s 38 overs cost 154 for his two. Lahiru Kumara took the wicket of KL Rahul and went for 68 from 20. Sri Lanka used seven bowlers in all, including part-time overs from Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamil Mishara, and India batted for 138 overs at 3.64 an over.
What Sri Lanka are facing
India came into Colombo 1-0 up after winning at Galle by 165 runs, a match in which Manav Suthar took ten wickets in only his second Test. This is the second and last Test of the tour, so Sri Lanka need to win it to square the series, and they have to do that from 503 behind with three days left and the weather already having taken chunks out of two of them.
Their reply had lasted a single over when the weather closed in again, Lahiru Udara and Mishara having got them to 1 without loss. Every over the rain takes out of the next three days helps India and hurts Sri Lanka. That is a long way from where the two sides stood on the opening morning, when Asitha and Kumara had India 66 for 2 after Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to bat.