Vaas makes early dent in Indian batting

Sa'adi Thawfeeq reporting from India

CHENNAI, Monday - Sri Lanka's most experienced left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas struck twice in his first spell to have India in some sort of trouble at 90 for two wickets at the end of what was technically the first day of the first cricket Test match played at the Chiddambaram Stadium here today.

Rain which had washed out the first three days play of the Test had left its mark on the ground where it took time until well into the afternoon session before the umpires were satisfied that the ground was fit and safe enough for play to commence.

What delayed the start earlier than was expected today despite bright sunshine was the bowlers run up at one end which was not quite dry with water having seeped through the covers.

The ground staff got over the main problem of a wet outfield when they brought the boundary lines in by at least two metres, but this was a new setback they were confronted with once the covers were removed. Eventually when it was finally decided to commence play, 38 overs were allotted to be bowled by 5.30 p.m. But the players got through only 32.3 before bad light set in. Sri Lanka was lucky they did not win the toss and the onus to bat first or not fell on India.

It did not take too long for the home country to realize that the behaviour of the pitch which had been kept covered for the best part of three days. Some balls kept low and it also played slow.

The ball from Vaas that bowled Gautam Gambhir did not give the batsman a semblance of a chance to bring his bat down because it not only swung in but also kept low to crash into his stumps.

With Gambhir gone for a duck in the third over of the innings Sri Lanka had broken through. But Virender Sehwag still in the one-day mood took Dilhara Fernando to task carting him for five fours in his opening spell of three overs, which forced skipper Marvan Atapattu to introduce his chief weapon spinner Muttiah Muralitharan by the seventh over. However Sehwag's cameo knock was too good to last especially this being a Test match.

It took an astute piece of captaincy by Atapattu to get rid of him. Atapattu positioned himself at silly mid-off tempting Sehwag to go for the drive.

The big hitting opener fell for the trap and ended up hitting the ball to the fielder who took it leaping high in the air. Sehwag departed for 36 scored off 28 balls with seven fours. He could consider himself lucky with most of his hits because it went between the fielders placed at strategic positions.

Sehwag's dismissal brought together two of the finest players of spin bowling - Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. They survived 90 minutes in partnership adding 45 runs in an unbroken stand for the third wicket.

The pitch was tricky and it required all their expertise and experience to ensure Sri Lanka did not gain the upperhand. Dravid's 122-minute stay at the wicket has yielded 30 runs and Tendulkar's 11 runs has taken him 69 balls without a boundary, which speaks for the struggle that went on between bat and ball in the middle.

With a winning result in the Test being out of the question, the only interest lay in whether master batsman Tendulkar would be able to make use of the final day tomorrow to achieve his 35th Test hundred which would put him on top of the list ahead of compatriot Sunil Gavaskar with whom he has been sharing the record for almost a year.

Sri Lanka opted to play an extra batsman and left-hander Jehan Mubarak who was flown in as replacement for the injured Chamara Kapugedera was drafted into the final eleven leaving the bowling in the hands of two seamers and two spinners.

Right-arm leg-spinner Malinga Bandara who made his first and only Test appearance eight years ago at the age of 18 years won selection over his left-arm rival Sajeewa Weerakoon for the second spinner's berth. Sri Lanka who lost the seven-match one-day series 1-6 is looking to redeem themselves in the three Test series.

INDIA 1ST INNINGS 

G. Gambhir b Vaas 				0 
V. Sehwag c Atapattu b Vaas 			36 
R. Dravid not out 				30 
S.R. Tendulkar not out 			11 
Extras (b-8, lb-1, nb-4) 			13 

TOTAL (2 wkts at close, 32.3 overs, 134 mins) 	90 

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-13 (Gambhir), 2-45 (Sehwag). 

TO BAT: V.V.S. Lakshman, S.C. Ganguly, M.S. Dhoni, I.K. Pathan, 
A. Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, A. Kumble. 
BOWLING: Vaas 10-4-15-2, Fernando 9-0-43-0 (4nb), 
Muralitharan 10.3-2-20-0, Bandara 3-2-3-0. 
SRI LANKA: M.S. Atapattu, D.A. Gunawardene, K.C. Sangakkara, 
D.P.M. Jayawardene, T.M. Dilshan, T.T. Samaraweera, J. Mubarak, 
W.P.U.J.C. Vaas, C.M. Bandara, M. Muralitharan, C.R.D. Fernando.