Indians bounce back to level series

Chris DHAMBARAGE reporting from Galle

The touring Indian team bounced with a magnificent all round performance to pull off a resounding 170 run victory over Sri Lanka on the fourth day of the second Test match at the Galle International Stadium yesterday.

After their debacle in the opening game in Colombo the Indians showed a lot of courage and determination to dismiss the home side for just 136 runs after having set a tough victory target of 307 runs. The series is now level one all with the third and deciding test starting on Friday at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo.

This was in fact Sri Lanka’s third lowest total against India in a test match after their scores of 82 at Chandigarh in 1990 and 119 at Ahamedabad in 1994. This was also Sri Lanka’s fourth biggest defeat in terms of runs and only their third loss at this venue.

Sri Lanka never looked like challenging the Indians from the moment they lost their top three batsmen rather cheaply. However Thilan Samaraweera and Tillekeratne Dilshan kept their hopes alive to a certain extent by adding 76 runs for the fifth wicket from 70 deliveries.

In fact middle order batsman Samaraweera carried his bat until the end with an unbeaten 67 from 217 minutes and 126 deliveries with the aid of eight boundaries. The dismissal of Tillekeratne Dilshan certainly was a crucial one because the Indians were under pressure following a couple of unsuccessful appeals.

Dilshan suddenly lost his concentration soon after the tea break having occupied the crease for 70 minutes for his 38 which included five boundaries. Thereafter the Indians simply ran through the Sri Lankan late order batting with Harbjahan Singh claiming a ten wicket haul.

Sri Lanka of course made a disastrous start to their run chase and slumped to 24 for 3 at lunch after India’s new ball bowlers Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan had delivered early blows. Sharma had opener Malinda Warnapura caught by VVS Laxman at slip for a duck in his first over while Kumar Sangakkara also edged one to Laxman in the slips off Khan a few minutes later.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene who was the top scorer in the first innings was then caught in the gully off a full-blooded cut stroke to leave Sri Lanka reeling on 10 for three at that stage.

Michael van Dort however held on determinedly for 98 minutes facing 60 deliveries for his painstaking ten runs. Earlier Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan formed an effective combination to dismiss the Indian team for 269 runs in their second innings. Their efforts had a great amount of significance because both had the honour of achieving a milestone in their test career.

Spin wizard Muralitharan took his tally to 751 wickets while playing in his 122nd match at an average of 21.90. He has now captured 96 wickets at this venue at an average of 17.72 from 13 matches.

In addition Sri Lanka’s mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis also had a memorable game following a successful test debut against the same opposition at the SSC ground in Maitland Place last week. This time the right arm spinner performed even better while claiming his maiden ten wicket haul.

Mendis captured four wickets for 92 following his six wicket haul in the first innings which gave him a matchbag of ten wickets for 209 runs while playing only in his second test match. He has now picked up a total of 18 wickets from the two test matches at an average of 18.94.

Muttiah Muralitaran is the only Sri Lankan bowler who has claimed more wickets in a three test series against India having claimed 23 scalps during the 2001 series followed by Rumesh Ratnayake with 20 victims during the 1985 home series.

India who resumed their second innings at 200 for 4 continued to frustrate the Sri Lankans through their fifth wicket pair of Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman. Both made their intentions quite clear from the start and were more determined to occupy the crease.

However Ganguly went through some real anxious moments and had the benefit of the doubt when two of his dismissals were referred to the third umpire. He was eventually snapped up by a clever piece of bowling from Muralitharn after the batsman had faced 45 deliveries for his 16 runs.