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Sri Lanka will have to score 372 runs to win the first match of the ongoing 2-match Test series against India in Galle. Along with a few overs of Day 4, the home team will have the entire Day 5 to chase the target.
On a turning pitch, the target looks tough to chase, but not impossible given Sri Lanka's history in the format. The Test stats at this venue also make the match interesting. In the past, there has been an instance when a team won a match chasing a 300-plus-run target.
Sri Lanka chase 372 to beat India, eye Pakistan’s historic Galle feat
In only one previous occasion, a target over 300 was successfully chased down in the Galle Test format. It was Pakistan who won the Galle Test, chasing 342 runs in 2022. If Sri Lanka touch the 372-run target, then they will be the second team to do that after Pakistan on this very ground.
Because of the home advantage and the previous few instances, the Lankans have the potential to pull out a stunning performance on the closing day of the match. Against Zimbabwe in 2017, the Sri Lankan cricket team won a Test in Colombo, chasing 388 runs.
In the second innings of the match against Zimbabwe, they scored 391 runs against 6 wickets to ensure a victory. To win against India, SL will have to score 372 runs. On paper, it looks not beyond their grasp.
🚨 India have set Sri Lanka a target of 372 in the Galle Test pic.twitter.com/RYQ2JcSDGW
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) August 18, 2026
Batting collapse for India in the second innings
Sri Lanka makes a brilliant comeback in the second innings through their spin bowling attack, bundling the Shubman Gill-led team for only 193 runs. In the first innings, the Men in Blue registered 462, and in the second innings another 193. In their first innings got 284 runs. Therefore, the hosts are required to score 372 runs to win the match.
The final day of the match is going to be interesting as all three results- win, defeat, and draw- anything will be on the cards. India will have to take all ten wickets to win the match.
Team India is still the favorite to win the match
Sri Lanka's first innings batting was mostly bamboozled by the Indian spin bowling unit. The combination of Manav Suthar, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav never allowed the home team to match India's first-innings run wheel.
Suthar claimed 4, Jadeja claimed 3, and one wicket claimed by Yadav in the previous innings of the match. Apart from Sonal Dinusha (100) and Niroshan Dickwella (80), the other batters of the Lankan batting line-up hardly produced any significant resistance against the Indian bowling.
The pitch is drier and has more patches, which will help the spinners on Day 5. The experiences of Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav, combined with Manav Suthar's wicket-taking mentality, will keep India one step ahead to take a lead in the series.
