Murali has India on the mat |
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Saturday July 26, 12:20 AM
<![CDATA[<P>July 25: For Sri Lanka, the runs came in a cascade here at the SSC. There was nothing in the first session that suggested the ball would hold sway over the bat. That all changed once India came out to bat and the top-order looked as comfortable as a cow on thin ice against Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan. India, requiring 401 to avoid a follow-on, finished the day at 159/6 after Sri Lanka resumed at 422/4 and continued with their march to post 600/6 before declaring their innings closed.
The Indians will have to take all the blame themselves. The wicket held no threat nor did the batsmen fall to deliveries that deserved a wicket. The shot selection of Sourav Ganguly and Dinesh Karthik left much to be desired. Ganguly fell to an ill-timed sweep while Karthik had the audacity to try and slog Muralitharan when the only task in hand was to play for stumps. It was lack of understanding the nuance of Test match batting. Sachin Tendulkar who looked solid from the start played on when trying to leave a ball pitched within the stumps.
It was no different with the first three wickets. The innings got to a rampaging start but Virender Sehwag high on adrenaline after a series of boundaries ushered the downfall when he fetched a bouncer from outside the off stump and hit it straight to the man at deep square leg. The Sehwag show till it lasted was entertaining but it was not Test cricket. Nuwan Kulasekara and Chaminda Vaas proved easy fodder with their length in the first five overs that lulled Sehwag into a false sense of security.
Gautam Gambhir playing his first Test in seven months started cautiously and was also sharp enough to make the loose ones count for runs. The southpaw prospered in the company of a sedate Rahul Dravid. Mendis was introduced ahead of Muralitharan looked every inch the nervous starter as Anil Kumble had predicted before the match. The first three overs were laden with two full tosses and lack of direction. Gambhir cashed in with the help of some intelligent running the two took the score to 79 at five per over.
It looked like it was going to be Sri Lanka’s turn for a long day when Gambhir fell to the guile of Murali. Playing his inside out drive, he was a touch early on the shot and sliced it to the Samaraweera at short covers. Shortly later Dravid paid dearly for playing inside the line and across to the carom ball that was pushed faster through air by Mendis. The ball turned just enough to beat the outside edge and clip the bail.
Mahela Jayawardene who looked more concerned about matters that could be under the players control rather than look at weather charts could not have asked for a better extension from his batsmen. Tilakaratane Dilshan in becoming the fourth centurion of the innings with an unbeaten 125 propelled the innings well.
This was the second successive occasion where four centuries were scored in an innings by the hosts against India at the SSC. The last Test between the two in 2001 also saw four hundreds. Incidentally Thilan Samaraweera who made 127 made a century on debut when the two teams met here last.
Runs did not come easy for Sri Lanka but there was hardly any pressure exerted either. In the 10th over of the day after measured runs had been collected Samaraweera slashed a ball straight to Laxman at gully. The 7-2 off side field worked well for Zaheer Khan.
Dilshan did not change gears after the fall of Samaraweera. Batting with the old fashioned floppy hat he used the sweep to telling effect to both Kumble and Harbhajan. Singh. The off-spinner who looked better when he released the ball slower was guilty of offering it short consistently.
Prasanna Jayawardene rotated the strike well as the pair rubbed it in. Harbhajan found rare success when Prasanna top-edged his intended sweep. The damage was done by then and Chaminda Vaas just added to it by essaying a few glorious drives in front of the wicket.
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