GALLE, Sri Lanka (AP) — India was heading towards a win over Sri Lanka with six more wickets needed after four days of the first test at Galle International Stadium on Tuesday.
India was all out for 193 in its second innings about midway through the day, setting Sri Lanka an improbable winning target of 372 in four-plus sessions.
By stumps, Sri Lanka was 84-4, trailing by 287 runs. Sonal Dinusha and captain Dhananjaya de Silva thwarted India's charge by safely reaching stumps.
First innings centurion Dinusha was 25 not out off 36 balls and de Silva was on 31 from 73 balls.
In the morning session, India lost four wickets to reach 116-4 at lunch. It kept an eye on quick scoring and possible bad weather in order to force a win.
Rishabh Pant led the way for India on either side of lunch. He hit 50 off 53 balls including eight fours and two sixes. Pant was out for 66 off 69.
Devdutt Padikkal added 44 off 75 and Lokesh Rahul 35 off 47 before India was all out for 193 in 48.5 overs.
Early in the day, Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal injured his right shoulder while fielding on the boundary. He dived and landed hard to save two runs then collapsed on the other side of the boundary. Chandimal was taken to hospital and Sri Lanka Cricket said the scans were clear.
But he was replaced by Pasindu Sooriyabandara as a concussion substitute. Sooriyabandara made his test debut.
Left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya picked two wickets before lunch, including trapping Shubman Gill on 8, while pacer Asitha Fernando took 4-31.
Pant and Ravindra Jadeja (9) combined for 54 off 60 balls until Pant was sent back in the 41st over by Lahiru Kumara. India lost its last four wickets for just 19 runs.
Sri Lanka’s second innings was delayed due to a passing shower, but it didn’t get a good start after play resumed.
Mohammed Siraj bounced out opener Nishan Madushka for 6 and Manav Suthar struck twice. Lahiru Udara was caught on 16 and Suthar trapped debutant Sooriyabandara for a golden duck.
Sri Lanka was 21-3 in the 11th over then 47-4 in the 22nd when Kamindu Mendis was caught on 2 at slip off Prasidh Krishna.
De Silva and Dinusha dug deep to bat out the last hour when bad light was called. They face six more hours on the final day on Wednesday, when there's a threat of rain.
See AP’s full cricket coverage here
India's Rishabh Pant plays a shot during the day four of the first cricket test match between Sri Lanka and India in Galle, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
India's Mohammed Siraj celebrates the dismissal of Sri Lanka's Nishan Madushka during the day four of the first cricket test match between Sri Lanka and India in Galle, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
India's Prasidh Krishna celebrates the dismissal of Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis during the day four of the first cricket test match between Sri Lanka and India in Galle, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Sri Lanka's Asitha Fernando, right, celebrates taking the wicket of India's Yashasvi Jaiswal during the day four of the first cricket test match between Sri Lanka and India in Galle, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Sri Lanka's Asitha Fernando celebrates taking the wicket of India's Yashasvi Jaiswal during the day four of the first cricket test match between Sri Lanka and India in Galle, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
India's KL Rahul plays a shot as Sri Lanka's Niroshan Dickwella watches during the day four of the first cricket test match between Sri Lanka and India in Galle, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
The College Football Playoff will double in size to 24 teams beginning next year, bringing an end to a three-decade era of conference title games that used to be among the marquee events of the season.
College leaders announced the new format Monday, after ESPN agreed to rework its contract to add the 11 new games. Terms were not announced, though ESPN said it was a deal for five years and additional $1.7 billion, on top of the $7.8 billion contract that runs through the 2031 season.
The revenue generated from the new games will presumably make up for the estimated $345 million the Power Four conference title games were worth. ESPN would then not be on the hook for $140 million of the extra money due to cancellation of the title games, the network reported.
The new format will have five automatic qualifiers — the champions of the Power Four league s and the best-ranked team in the smaller Group of Six conferences — with the other 19 teams being chosen by a selection panel. Notre Dame does not receive any guarantees, the way it does this year if it's ranked in the top 12 for what will be the last year of the 12-team postseason.
The top eight seeds will receive first-round byes in the new format and the playoff will start on the second weekend in December, with the first two rounds of games on campus. The traditional Army-Navy game will be played on the first weekend in December, which used to be reserved for conference title games.
Both the Southeastern and Big Ten conferences, whose approval was needed to adopt this change, and their Power Four brethren — the Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference — are banking that most of the additional spots will go to their members so some of the second-tier teams have new motivation to keep spending big in an era of NIL and $50 million football rosters.
“Opening the playoff to more programs, more student-athletes and more fan bases across the country is great for college football,” said Mississippi State president Mark Keenum, who is chair of the CFP board. "We look forward to seeing this expanded format come to life next season.”
The first final for the 24-team playoff remains set for Jan. 24, 2028, in New Orleans. Traditional bowl games will still host the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.
As part of the expansion, the CFP is requiring Power Four teams to play at least 10 “qualifying” regular-season games against conference foes, other Power Four opponents and Notre Dame. Group of Six teams will have to play 10 games against conference opponents and a mix of G6 teams, Notre Dame and other independents.
The agreement guarantees two off weeks during a regular season that will begin the week before Labor Day.
The move to 24 teams marks the second expansion of the playoff since it began in 2014 as a modest four-team affair. Right after it moved to 12 in 2024, most thought it would eventually max out at 16, which was the SEC’s preference.
But the Big Ten wanted to go bigger, while the SEC balked at that, concerned about the league title game — a property it invented in 1992 and made billions from over the decades — along with the marketability of games featuring third- and fourth-place finishers in power conferences.
ESPN took care of the money problem. Now, the question is whether fans will embrace an NFL-style free-for-all that could include about one-third of the Power Four’s 68 teams, depending on what happens with the Group of Si schools, whose role in these big-money power grabs seems to diminish with every move.
It's the latest seismic change for a sport that, for decades, built its distinct character and generated controversy by leaning on media and coaching polls to hand out national titles.
The new system won’t be a completely clean break. Critics see a risk in giving more power to a selection committee that hasn’t really mastered the four- or 12-team brackets. The exclusion of Florida State in 2003 and Notre Dame last season stand out as the best examples -- and the first rankings release of this season left people scratching their heads again.
Skeptics also view the expanded playoff as another watering-down of what’s largely seen as one of the most important regular seasons in sports, replacing potential matchups between, say, Alabama and Georgia in an SEC title game with a 13 seed vs. 20 seed game that would pit, say, Kentucky and South Carolina.
But, as Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti argued from the beginning, a postseason that gives bubble teams hope and keeps others vying for home-field advantage or byes will bring more eyes — not fewer — to the end of a regular season that sometimes boils down to only three or four traditional rivalry games with meaning. (One of those traditional games, Ohio State-Michigan, is shaping up to have zero impact on this year’s playoffs this year.)
More at-large berths also help the conferences cash in on the decision to expand their league schedules (the SEC didn’t really want to) and demand more non-league games be played among Power Four teams — all in an effort to beef up strength-of-schedule ratings that will carry weight with a selection committee.
UCLA defenders tackle Nevada wide receiver Perrion Williams, center bottom, during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Georgia linebacker Chris Cole (9) scores a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Florida, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
Fans storm the field after an NCAA college football game between Southern California and Ohio State, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
© 2023 Bastillepost. All rights reserved.
© 2026 Bastillepost. All rights reserved.
Loading comments…