A contest is bound to turn into a no-contest if one team is near flawless while its opponent shows no heart or will whatsoever to grind it out.

That has exactly been the story of this India-Sri Lanka first Test in Mohali, which Rohit Sharma and his men won by an innings and 222 runs inside three days.

After Ravindra Jadeja’s unbeaten 175 propelled India to 574 for 8 declared, the task would obviously be harder for Sri Lanka’s batsmen, especially on the spin-friendly Punjab Cricket Association pitch. That too, against quality spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja himself.

But for a greater part of both their innings, the Sri Lankans just didn’t seem to be having the appetite to put up a fight. Such attitude allowed India to roll Sri Lanka over with two days of the Test remaining.

Credit, though, has to go to both Jadeja and Ashwin for making optimum use of the conditions. For Jadeja, his performance in this Test would surely go down as one of the finest showings ever by an all-rounder.

Agreed the opposition is weak. But no one can take away the effort Jadeja put in to first compile an unbeaten 150-plus score and then follow it up with a match-haul of nine wickets with his relentless left-arm spin.

Speaking of Ashwin, his brisk 61-run knock, along with six scalps in the match that took him past Kapil Dev’s tally of 434 Test wickets and placed him second behind Anil Kumble (619) on the list of India’s top wicket-takers, sum up his contribution too.

The writing was on the wall for Sri Lanka by the end of Day II itself when they were four down for 108 in reply to India’s mammoth first innings total. On Day III morning, overnight batsmen Pathum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka were somehow unscathed in the first half an hour.

But as soon as Jasprit Bumrah gave the breakthrough by trapping Asalanka lbw, the floodgates were opened. Jadeja then ran through the rest of the visitors’ line-up before lunch to end their first innings at 174, a total less than his individual score in the Test.

After India enforced the follow-on, Sri Lanka lost opener Lahiru Thirimanne as early as in the third over of their second innings off Ashwin. That strike from the off-spinner was fair indication of India wrapping things up quickly to lead 1-0 in the series.

The sheer lack of application from Sri Lankan batsmen continued as expected with Ashwin and Jadeja making merry to bowl them out for 178 in the day’s final session.