Top News

New Delhi .The Indian cricket team has taken a 1-0 lead in the two-match Test series by defeating Sri Lanka by 165 runs in the Galle Test. This victory has also affected the points table of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27. India's points have increased and the team has strengthened its position in the race for the final. However, the Indian team still remains at fifth place in the table.

India maintained its dominance from the beginning in the match played in Galle. Captain Shubman Gill won the toss and decided to bat first, which was in favor of the Indian team. Devdutt Padikkal, coming at number three, scored the first century of his Test career and played a brilliant inning of 167 runs. His batting helped India score big in the first innings.

The first innings of the Indian team ended at 462 runs. In response, the Sri Lankan team could score only 284 runs. In this way India got a significant lead of 178 runs in the first innings. After this, the Indian batsmen scored runs quickly in the second innings and set a target of 372 runs for the host team.

In the second innings, wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh Pant batted aggressively and scored a half-century. He also achieved the feat of becoming the fastest batsman to complete 100 sixes in Test cricket. After this, the Indian bowlers did not allow Sri Lanka's second innings to last long.

In bowling, Manav Suthar was one of the biggest heroes of India's victory. He took four wickets in Sri Lanka's first innings, while taking six wickets in the second innings to take a total of 10 wickets. In front of his performance, Sri Lankan batting disintegrated under pressure and India won the match by 165 runs.

After this victory, Australia remains on top in the WTC points table. Australia has scored 84 points and 77.77 percent PCT with seven wins from nine matches. South Africa is in second place with 75 percent PCT, while New Zealand is in third place with 72.22 percent PCT. Bangladesh is at fourth position with 66.67 percent PCT.

India now have 64 points from 10 matches with five wins, four losses and one draw. The team's PCT is 53.33 percent and it remains at fifth position. After losing to India, Sri Lanka has slipped to sixth position with 33.33 percent PCT.

In the table, England is at seventh position with 24.36 percent PCT, Pakistan is at eighth position with 22.22 percent PCT and West Indies is at ninth position with 20.83 percent PCT. The top two teams have to make it to the finals in the WTC, so the upcoming matches will be very important for India.

The second and last Test between India and Sri Lanka will be played at the SSC ground in Colombo from August 23. After this, the Indian team will play a two-Test series against New Zealand. As the WTC cycle progresses, India will need to achieve better results in every match so that it can finish in the top two and get a ticket to the finals.