India have noses in front

Colombo: Mahendra Singh Dhoni & Co are having a pretty good time at the P Sara Oval. And the world’s No.1 Test side is back on track after having drawn all that flak for putting up a below-average performance in Galle.

They, however, did well to draw the second Test on a dull wicket at the Sinhalese Sports Club.

On Thursday, a collective effort saw the visitors inch ahead in the third Test. Virender Sehwag, who got to his 21st Test century in the first session, came back to haunt the Lankans with the ball later in the day. The part-time off-spinner sent back openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Tharanga Paranavitana as Sri Lanka ended the day at 45 for two with a lead of 34 runs.

At stumps, skipper Kumar Sangakkara (12) had night watchman Suraj Randiv (0), the off-spinner, for company.

But that was after India’s middle and lower-order came up with an inspired batting display to go past Sri Lanka’s total of 425. Suresh Raina and VVS Laxman cracked gritty half-centuries, while Abhimanyu Mithun (46) and Amit Mishra (40) added 64 invaluable runs for the eighth wicket as the visitors were dismissed for 436.

The lead was only 11 runs, but it was encouraging nevertheless.
The Sri Lankan openers played the seamers with ease and that’s when Dhoni decided to introduce Sehwag at the fag end of the day.
The gamble paid off as the part-timer got rid of Paranvitana and Dilshan in the space of two overs to put the pressure back on the hosts.

Earlier, Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed in the very first over of the day. The maestro, who looked good on Day Two, just added one more to his overnight score of 40 before slashing at a wide Lasith Malinga delivery only to hand wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene the simplest of catches.

Interestingly, Tendulkar was Malinga’s 100th Test victim. The slinger is the third Lankan to take 100 Test wickets after Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas.

Sehwag, meanwhile, got to his hundred with a boundary. The Delhi dasher then mistimed an inside-out shot off Suraj Randiv as Chanaka Welegedara made no mistake at mid-off. India were 199/4 at that stage, and it was clearly advantage Sri Lanka.

It was up to the middle-order to do the rescue act and Suresh Raina, playing only his second Test, joined senior pro VVS Laxman in the middle. And the duo did exactly what the situation demanded. The pair handled the Randiv and Ajantha Mendis perfectly.

Raina began on a cautious note but once he settled in, he pulled a short one from Mendis. He then swept the same bowler for four more in the same over. Laxman, on the other hand, adopted a wait-and-watch policy by punishing only the bad deliveries.

While on 56, Laxman went for a late-cut off Mendis. Mahela Jayawardene took a sharp catch at first slip. The partnership, which yielded 105 runs, was finally broken. Raina, who looked good for another century, followed Laxman four overs later, becoming Mendis’s second victim.

Skipper Dhoni, who confidently stepped out to hit Randiv for a four, did not last long either. He casually pulled a short delivery from Malinga and the ball handed in the ’keeper’s gloves. He made 15.
At 350/7, Sangakkara would have hoped to wrap up the innings soon. However, Mithun and Mishra had different plans. Malinga attacked them with bouncers but the tail-enders were in no mood to give up.

Mithun played all the shots in the book. The cut and drove and grew in confidence. Mishra, who was dropped by Angelo Mathews off Malinga, made Lanka pay for that mistake.

The 64-run association helped India surpass Sri Lanka’s 425. Mithun fell four short of his maiden half-century while Mishra was unlucky to be given out.