Colombo: Sri Lankan youngster Sonal Dinusha has etched his name in the annals of cricket history, joining an elite club featuring West Indies great Everton Weekes and Pakistan legend Zaheer Abbas. During the ongoing second Test against India in Colombo, the 25-year-old left-handed batter achieved the rare feat of scoring 80 or more runs in each of his first three Test innings against the formidable Indian side.
According to a report by Zee News, Dinusha reached this milestone on the third day of the match, remaining unbeaten on a resilient 85 before rain and bad light forced early stumps. In his first two Test outings against India in Galle, the young batter had impressed with scores of 100 and 84. This remarkable consistency makes him the first player in 48 years to achieve the feat since Zaheer Abbas, who scored 176, 96, and an unbeaten 235 against India in 1978. Everton Weekes was the first to set the benchmark in 1948, amassing 128, 194, and 162 in his first three encounters with the Indian team.
Beyond this historic milestone, Dinusha became only the second Sri Lankan batter—and 10th overall globally—to record three consecutive 50-plus scores in his first three Test innings against India. The only other Sri Lankan to accomplish this was Duleep Mendis, who registered scores of 105, 105, and 51, as detailed by Zee News.
What has particularly stood out in Dinusha’s breakout series is his absolute mastery over the Indian spinners. Employing a lethal combination of conventional, slog, and reverse sweeps, he has amassed 106 runs via sweep shots alone in this series. Since ball-by-ball data became available in 2007, this is the third-highest run tally generated entirely through sweeps against spin in a single Test series, trailing only Joe Root (160 runs against Sri Lanka in 2021) and Ben Duckett (112 runs against Pakistan in 2022).
Statistically, Dinusha has elevated the sweep shot to a primary weapon. Out of his 284 career runs accumulated against spin bowling, a staggering 122 runs (nearly 43 per cent) have come off sweeps, boasting an extraordinary strike rate of 169.44 without ever being dismissed while playing the stroke.
Despite his heroic defiance, Sri Lanka remains in a precarious position. The hosts ended Day 3 at 265 for eight in response to India’s mammoth first-innings declaration of 503 for nine, still trailing by 238 runs.