Milestones by Malinga, Mendis and Sangakkara:

Third Test poised for a nail biting finish

Elmo RODRIGOPULLE from the P.Sara Stadium

Two days of nail biting cricket is on the cards when the Third and Final Test between Sri Lanka and India begins at the P.Sara Stadium today. At the end of the third day, Sri Lanka who made 425 were 45 for 2 in their second essay a lead of 34 after dismissing India for 436.

The batsmen out were Thranga Paranvitana for 16 and Tillekeratne Dilshan for 13. At the wickets were Sangakkara on12 and Randiv on no score. Sangakkara in scoring 12 reached 8000 Test runs. Sehwag had two for 11.

The third day dawned bright and beautiful with the sun shining brightly and the stage was set for an absorbing day’s cricket with two of the best batsmen in world cricket at the center for India Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.

Sehwag had blasted an exciting 97 on the previous day with 17 scintillating boundaries and the little master Sachin Tendulkar rewriting the record books not only with runs but also with the appearances on 40.

But disaster struck the Indians when in the space of 19 runs both Tendulkar and Sehwag were back in the pavilion. First to make the lone trek to the pavilion was Tendulkar when he flashed at a wide delivery from Lasith Malinga and snicked to Prasana Jayawardena after adding a single to his overnight 40. 183 for 3.

100th Test wicket

That was Malinga’s 100th Test wicket and he will always remember that victim because it was Tendulkar who has the most number of Test and one day runs.

Then after reaching his 21st Test century and a lot more runs were expected from his blazing and punishing blade, Sehwag played a lazy stroke and lofted off spinner Suraj Randiv to extra cover for Welagedera to gobble the catch. Sehwag 109 in 90 balls with 18 fours. 199 for 4.

But the reliable duo of V.Laxman and Suresh Raina saw to it that the Indians enjoyed their lunch by adding 83 and taking them to 282 without further loss. Laxman was on 42 and Raina on 39.

Pace and bounce

Both batsmen were tentative at first. But once they got their eyes in, gauged the pace and bounce on the wicket, broke out into some lovely stroke play. Laxman was pushing the singles and getting the occasional boundary on the onside, while Raina was driving exquisitely on the off for boundaries.

Malinga and Randiv who did most of the bowling, varied their deliveries, beating the bat, but did not have success coming their way. Ajantha Mendis and Chanaka Welagedera were once again disappointments.

After lunch Laxman and Raina completed their half centuries and when they looked good for more runs, Mendis coming on from the scoreboard end got his act together obtaining quick spin off the wicket and was rewarded with the wickets of Laxman and Raina.

Quick spin

Laxman was well taken by Mahela Jayawardena in the slips – 304 for 5 and Raina pushed a quick spinning leg break to Sangakkara at short mid wicket. 321 for 6. Laxman had 7 fours in his 56 and Raina who looked on course for another 100 had 10 fours in his 62. Laxman and Raina added 105 for the fifth wicket. Raina’s driving on the off side was a treat to watch. When Mendis got Raina it was his 50th wicket in Test cricket and he achieved it in 12 Tests. Muttiah Muralitheran and Chaminda Vaas achieved these feats in 13 Tests. Interesting stats. Dhoni who has not been in good batting form on this tour, was a disappointment once again and when his team needed runs from him came a cropper nibbling a wide delivery from Malinga to wicket keeper Jayawardena when on 15. 350 for 7. Abi Mithun and Amrit Misra took India to tea at 378 for 7 still 47 short of the Lankan total of 425.

After tea Mithun and Misra went their merry way, playing some innovative and audacious strokes and built a partnership that slowly and steadily took them nearer to the Sri Lankan score of 425.

They added an useful 64 runs and during their stand none of the bowlers seemed to cause them any worry. Randiv coming on from the scoreboard end got one to bite and turn and Mithun who was batting confidently tickled it to Mahela Jayawardena at leg slip. The ball seemed to have come from Mithun’s hip. Mithun made 46 with 5 fours. 414 for 8.

After the dismissal of Mithun the end was near and after going past the Sri Lankan total Misra tried to hit Randiv out of the ground and holed out to Dilshan for 40 with 3 fours. 433 for 9.

An atrocious decision saw Sharma ruled out caught at leg slip by Paranavitana for 8 off Randiv to end the Indian innings at 436 – 11 runs in front.

Lasith Malinga had 3 for 119, Ajantha Mendis 2 for 109 and Randiv had the best figures 4 for 80.

SRI LANKA 
1st innings 425 

INDIA 
1st innings 
(overnight 180-2)

M. Vijay c Mendis b Malinga		14
V. Sehwag c Welegedara b Randiv		109
R. Dravid lbw b Mathews			23
S. Tendulkar c P. Jayawardene b Malinga	41
V. Laxman c M. Jayawardene b Mendis	56
S. Raina c Sangakkara b Mendis		62
M. Dhoni c P. Jayawardene b Malinga	15
A. Mithun c M. Jayawardene b Randiv	46
A. Mishra c Dilshan b Randiv		40
I. Sharma c Paranavitana b Randiv	 8
P. Ojha not out				 1
Extras: (b6, lb6, w1, nb8)		21
TOTAL (all out, 106.1 overs)		436
Fall of wickets: 1-49 (Vijay), 2-92 (Dravid), 3-183 (Tendulkar), 4-199 (Sehwag),
 5-304 (Laxman), 6-321 (Raina), 7-350 (Dhoni), 8-414 (Mithun), 9-433 (Mishra), 10-436 (Sharma).
Bowling: Malinga 30-3-119-3 (nb4), Welegedara 15-0-88-0 (nb2, w1), 
Mendis 30-4-109-2 (nb1), Mathews 4-0-13-1, Randiv 25.1-6-80-4 (nb1), Dilshan 2-0-15-0.

SRI LANKA 
2nd innings

T. Paranavitana c Dhoni b Sehwag	16
T. Dilshan c Vijay b Sehwag		13
K. Sangakkara not out			12
S. Randiv not out			 0
Extras: (lb1, w2, nb1)			 4
TOTAL (for two wickets, 16 overs)	45
Fall of wickets: 1-32 (Paranavitana), 2-39 (Dilshan).
Bowling: Mithun 3-0-12-0, Sharma 4-1-9-0 (w2, 1nb), Ojha 5-0-12-0, Sehwag 4-0-11-2.