Colombo 3rd Test: India Hold Edge Despite Sri Lankan Rally

India finished at 53/3 by the end of the fourth day of the third test at Colombo after a roller coaster day of fluctuating fortunes.

Sri Lanka who started the day at 45/2 soon lost night watchman, Randiv LBW to Ojha, after Dhoni dropped him on the previous delivery – 63/3.

Ojha was getting grip and turn with the hard ball, and Mahela found that out to his discomfort when he played forward to one that turned and took his edge for Dravid to complete the formalities at slip – 77/4.

Ojha made it three for the morning when one run later Sangakkara pulled him to Raina at backward square leg. A soft dismissal that had Sri Lanka in disarray.

If you thought things couldn’t get any better for India or worse for Sri Lanka, Mishra who was introduced into the attack began his second over with a low full toss and Mathew hit it down the throat of Tendulkar at midwicket.

The next ball to Prasanna Jayawardene, the new man in,  pitched on the leg stump and straightened, trapping the keeper in front. Sri Lanka were 87/7 and Mishra was on a hattrick.

In effect, the hosts were 76 runs ahead with three wickets in hand. A partnership ensued between Samaraweera and Malinga that took the score to a healthier 125, when Sehwag reintroduced into the attack did the job getting Malinga out LBW.

By now it seemed India would wrap things up quickly and the players would possibly get to do some shopping in the evening. They had not reckoned with Mendis.

India’s bane on their tour of 2008, Mendis had then done damage with the ball; this time he decided that he would let his bat do the talking. Or should I say, the shouting? Oh, how it shouted and screamed!

Samaraweera was on 26 carrying on from where he left off in the first innings, showing the other Sri Lankan players how to tackle the Indian spinners.

In his company, Mendis grew in confidence and stature. Once the ball lost its shine, Ojha, Mishra and Sehwag did not get the same purchase off the wicket, either in terms of bounce or spin.

To hasten to the end of the story, Samaraweera finally departed trying to wrist a ball to leg for a single to keep the strike and preserve Mendis. Dhoni took the catch off the batsman’s glove down the leg side. From 87/7, when they seemed down and out, Sri Lanka were suddenly looking happier at 243/9.

But Mendis wasn’t happy with the score and decided to take Ishant’s next over by storm, with fours off the first three deliveries. When Mendis was finally out after an entertaining little partnership of 24 for the last wicket, Sri Lanka had accumulated 267, leaving India to get 257 for victory.

Though this was more than India had bargained for, when Sri Lanka were 87/7, if somebody had offered them this target at the beginning of thie day, the Indians would have taken it, smilingly.

With 18 overs to go, before close of play, and an entire last day to come, there was plenty of time for the batsmen to play themselves in, and tackle the target in a relaxed manner.

And when Vijay creamed Malinga for a couple of fours in the first over, India’s fans were waiting to see what Sehwag  would do.

And nothing is precisely what Sehwag did. On the second ball he faced from Randiv, opening the bowling with Malinga, Sehwag played for the turn, and edged a straight delivery to Mahela in slip. A rare duck to Sehwag, his 11th in 79 tests, and his fifth in the fourth innings – 10/1.

Randiv, like Ojha in the morning, was apparently enjoying the hard new ball, and Dravid was the next to pay for Randiv’s enjoyment, when the ball he played defensively spun back onto his stumps – 27/2.

After several LBW shouts against Vijay disallowed by the umpire, Randiv finally got his man, when Mahela took a low catch at backward square leg. Referred upstairs, the decision went in the bowler’s favour. Three front-line batsmen gone, and India at 49/3. Suddenly 257 was looking much bigger.

Tendulkar survived a confident shout for LBW and a couple of edges past a non-existent slip, to finish the day at 11, in a team score of 53/3.

Night watchman Ishant Sharma was with him, keeping vigil at 2 n.o.

I still think India have the edge. Tendulkar is still there. Laxman, Raina and Dhoni are to follow. Mithun is no rabbit with the bat, nor is Mishra.

Preservation of wickets should be the priority in the morning session tomorrow. There is no devil in the wicket, and as we saw during the course of the Sri Lankan innings, the older the ball gets, the less it helps the spinners.  But that was today.

Could tomorrow be different?

Tags: Dhoni, Dravid, India, Malinga, Sehwag, umpire

Category: Cricket