Sri Lanka batted incredibly to avoid defeat in the third and final Test, especially Dhananjaya whose hard-fought century stopped India in their track and helped Sri Lanka respectively bow out of the three-match series.
The Lankan batsmen showed great determination and grit to bat out the day and secure a draw as they started the day 5 with 31 for 3. The third Test might have ended in a draw but India clinched the series 1-0 and continued their dominance at home.
With this series win, India now equalled Australia’s record of nine successive Test series triumph. Men in Blue have won all nine series since Kohli took over as Test captain.
9 Australia (Oct 2005 - Jun 2008)
9 India (July 2015 - Dec 2017) *
8 England (July 1884 - Aug 1890)
Brief scores:
India 536/7d (Virat Kohli 243, Murali Vijay 155; Lakshan Sandakan 4-167) & 246/5d (Shikhar Dhawan 67, Rohit Sharma 50*; Dhananjaya de Silva 1-31, Lahiru Gamage 1-48) drew with Sri Lanka 373 (Dinesh Chandimal 164, Angelo Mathews 111; Ishant Sharma 3-98) & 226/5 (Dhananjaya de Silva 119 retd. hurt, Roshen Silva 38*; Ravindra Jadeja 3-59)