Rex Clementine
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3rd Test: Sri Lanka v India at Colombo, 29 Aug-02 Sep 2001 Rex Clementine |
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Sri Lanka 1st innings:
India 2nd innings: |
At the evening drinks break, the visitors were 196 for four with skipper Ganguly on 10. Just 27 runs were scored in the hour after tea and India need a further 180 runs to make the home team bat again.
Raul Dravid, by far India’s best player of the tour, played another stubborn knock before he was run out. The Indian vice-captain who went past 4000 Test runs in the course of this knock, drove hard to mid-on and rushed for a single. His bat was still on the line when Marvan Atapattu brought down the stumps with a direct hit from mid-on.
Dravid made 36 in 152 minutes and 124 balls with four boundaries.
Chaminda Vaas came in the place of Dilhara Fernando (8-3-20-0) in the 90th over of the Indian innings.
Debutant and first innings century-maker, Thilan Samaraweera came in to bowl his first over of the Indian second innings replacing Muttiah Muralitharan (29-12-32-2), who bowled a marathon spell, since the morning session.
The Indian batsmen would have had some consolation having seen their tormentor, Muralitharan, returning to the dressing room. But that consolation was short lived as they lost the wicket of Kaif.
Skipper Ganguly worked the ball on to the onside and called Mohammed Kaif for a single. But having seen Kumar Sangakkara reaching the ball, he sent his partner back but Thilan Samaraweera dislodged the bails before Kaif could make his ground.
He was gone for five in 31 minutes and 29 balls with India on 196 for four.
At tea, Dravid is on 28 after 125 minutes batting and Ganguly is on ten.
Both batsmen struggled against the spin of Muralitharan, but apart from a couple of edges that flew wide of the close fielders and a direct hit by Marvan Atapattu that was referred to the third umpire, they batted without alarm.
Ganguly faced 13 deliveries before hitting his first scoring shot. He did it in style by coming down the wicket and smashing Muralitharan for a straight six. That also brought up India’s 150 in the 69th over of the innings.
Dilhara Fernando replaced Chaminda Vaas (7-4-16-0) from the Tennis Court End while Muralitharan unchanged from the Press Box End throughout the session.
Rahul Dravid is unbeaten on 17 and Sourav Ganguly, who was greeted with derisive hooting from a small local crowd, is yet to face a delivery. The Indians need a further 227 runs to make Sri Lanka bat again.
Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and skipper Sanath Jayasuriya continued bowling after lunch, as Ramesh and Dravid tried to consolidate on a good start this morning.
The Sri Lankan fielders frequently appealed for leg-before decisions, but both umpires remained unmoved. Ramesh looked lucky to survive one appeal on 47 when he padded up to a delivery from Muraltharan.
Jayasuriya proved economical but rarely threatened and he eventually took himself off after a 14 over spell either side of the luncheon interval (14-7-28-0). Chaminda Vaas came back into the attack.
Ramesh then reached the eighth fifty of his Test career and the first of this series when he dabbed Vaas for a couple of runs behind square on the offside. It was a marathon effort of concentration spanning the best part of four hours.
A few moments later, however, he was bowled by a freakish off spinner that pitched outside Ramesh’s leg stump, beat the outside edge of his bat and just clipped the top of his off stump.
Ramesh had made 55 from 165 balls and hit four fours in all.
Indian openers Shiv Das and Sadogoppan Ramesh followed their 97 run stand in the first innings with a 107 run partnership in the second innings before Muralitharan struck.
India, who started the day on 28 without loss, were 112 for one, still 264 runs in arrears after Sri Lanka piled up a massive 610 for six in their first innings.
Das and Ramesh batted resolutely in the morning. Das edged through a vacant third slip position when he had made 60 and sliced past his stumps for another boundary, but the pair generally looked secure during their 165-minute partnership.
Das was the more aggressive of the two, hitting 11 fours in his second fifty of the game and the eighth of his career. He was particularly harsh on Muralitharan, who conceded 22 runs in first five over spell from the Tennis Court End.
Jayasuriya decided to introduce himself in place of Muralitharan and bowled a tight seven over spell (7-4-8-0). Fast bowler Dilhara Fernando was replaced by Muralitharan, who then bowled his first spell of the game from the Press Box End.
The move paid off in the penultimate over before lunch, as Das was well caught off bat and pad by Hashan Tillakaratne at silly point, as he came forward and played defensively.
Das had scored 68 off 161 balls and hit eleven fours. India were 107 for one.
Rahul Dravid came into bat and square cut his very first ball from Muralitharan for three runs.
Ramesh is unbeaten on 34 off 101 balls and has hit just two fours in the morning; a cover drive off Chaminda Vaas and a leg glance off Fernando.
After the first hour of play India are 76 without loss, but still face a mammoth deficit of 300 after Sri Lanka scored 610 for six in their first innings.
Das, starting the day on 22, played cautiously during the opening overs bowled by Chaminda Vaas and Dulip Liyanage, but then went on the offensive when Muttiah Muralitharan was introduced into the attack in the ninth over of the day.
Das drove the off spinner for two boundaries in his first over and then square cut him to the boundary in his next over.
Muralitharan, though, was unlucky to have not dismissed Das in the 15th over of the day. Das went for a sweep but edged the ball onto his pad and the ball ballooned up to Sanath Jayasuriya running forward from mid on. Asoka de Silva, however, ruled not out.
It was the second time in the match when players should have been given out off their boot once again calling into question the present ICC Playing Conditions, which state that a catch can only be referred to the third umpire if the on-field umpire is unsure as to whether the ball has been taken cleanly.
Their refusal to call for television assistance in this match, however, would also seem to contravene the earlier provision that: “The on-field umpire has the discretion to call for the third umpire and should take a common-sense approach.”
Das though survived and continues to bat well. Moments before the drinks break in square cut Dilahara Fernando, who had replaced Liyanage (5-0-12-0), for four.
Das reached his seventh Test fifty just before the drinks interval off 106 balls. He hit eight fours so far.
Sri Lanka look set for a tough day in the field. The ball has not moved in the air or off the pitch so far and Muralitharan is not extracting the bounce that he did in the first innings.
India resumed with an immediate target of surviving till the evening and then to make Sri Lanka bat again as they had conceded a first innings lead of 376; Sri Lanka having declared their first innings closed at 610/6.
The visitors would have lost Shiv Sunder Das for eight if Hashan Tillakaratne had taken a catch at gully. The right-hander flashed at a Dilhara Fernando delivery with India on 10 and Tillakaratne, one of the safest fielders in the side got a hand to the ball but failed grab the chance.
The spin of Muralitharan was introduced in the eighth over of the Indian second innings in place of Fernando from the Tennis Court End. He bowled three overs by the close of play and was getting the ball to turn and bounce.
The full day’s report will be up shortly.
India will have to score 376 runs to make Sri Lankans bat again. The home side is clearly in the driver's seat and India will now have to play to save this match.
Earlier, at the score on 548 Sri Lanka went pass the previous highest score at SSC. The previous best was 547 for eight, declared by Sri Lanka against Australia in 1992.
The pair of Thilan Samaraweera and Hashan Tillakaratne also established the highest Sri Lankan partnership for the seventh wicket beating the previous best of 144 by Ravi Ratnayake and Aravinda de Silva in Brisbane in 1989.
Samaraweera playing in his first Test batted with lot of confidence. After the tea break, he lifted the tempo going for his shots all around the wicket. With the right-handed all rounder taking the attack on to the Indian spinners, Indian captain Sourav Ganguly decided to take the third new ball with Sri Lanka on 569 for six on 164th over.
But Samaraweera faced the Indian medium paceman too with the same competency and looked classy. Hashan Tillakaratne though still batted watchfully.
When Samaraweera was on 82, leg cramps forced to him call for a runner and Russel Arnold came for his aid.
Sri Lanka's 600 runs came in 168.4 overs and 697 minutes.
Tillakaratne reached his three-figure mark when he swept Harbhajan Singh to the midwicket to take three runs. He raised his arms in triumph and the wide grin across his face said much more. Tillakaratne has put in a lot of hard work in the last two years to get back into the side. This was his first century for five years.
Tillakaratne and Samaraweera brought up the hundred run partnership for the seventh wicket in 111 minutes and off 171 balls, beating the previous best partnership for the seventh wicket against India, which was 77 by Ranjan Madugalle and D.S de Silva in 1982 in Madras.
Ganguly, desperate to make a breakthrough, has used seven bowlers in the day in a vain effort to take wickets. No bowler has looked penetrative though and the dejected body language of the Indian captain and his players fairly reflects their position in the game.
Just before tea Samaraweera reached a nuggety fifty off 113 balls.
Tillakaratne and all rounder Thilan Samaraweera have now added 62 runs for the seventh wicket. Samaraweera is on 25.
Indian captain Sourav Ganguly didn’t take the field soon after lunch as he was suffering from a stomach strain.
Sairaj Bahutule and Harbhajan Singh started the proceedings for India after the break. Samaraweera edged Bahutule soon after the luncheon interval to Dravid at first slip but the ball fell just short. Since then both batsmen have played watchfully and without alarm.
Ganguly returned 30 minutes into the afternoon session and soon brought back Venkatesh Prasad in place of Harbhajan Singh (6-0-14-0). Samaraweera welcomed the pace bowler's introduction by clipping his first boundary in his international career through the leg side.
Sri Lanka’s 450 came up after 132.1 overs.
We now appear to be waiting for the inevitable declaration. Ganguly has started to set defensive fields and Harbhajan has decided to adopt a leg-side line.
Tillakaratne, however, has refused to be conned into taking unnecessary risks. Whenever the ball has been in the slot, though, he has cashed in. During the early part of his innings he square cut the ball freely, more recently he has started to drive through the covers and over the top confidently.
Sri Lanka’s 400 runs came in 116.5 overs with Mahela Jayawardene on 132 and Hashan Tillakaratne on 41.
Ganguly tried five bowlers in the morning, including himself, but no bowler put the batsmen under sustained pressure. The Indian bowlers lacked discipline and allowed Jayawardene and Tillakaratne to hit 16 boundaries.
Leg spinner Sairaj Bahutule eventually made the breakthrough, as Jayawardene was adjudged leg before wicket, playing forward defensively for 139 off 216 balls, which included 14 fours and one six. Jayawardene was mildly surprised by David Orchard’s decision, to say the least, and replays indicated that the ball would probably have missed his off stump.
The wicket ended a 95 run partnership with Tillakaratne, who had now grown in confidence. He pulled Harbhajan Singh for four and then hit Ganguly for three fours, including a pull in front of square and a cracking on drive to reach his fifty off 94 balls. He couldn’t conceal his elation, raising his bat to all corners of the ground in celebration of his 17th Test fifty, which has saved him from the chop and resurrected his international career.
He has now been joined by the adhesive Thilan Samaraweera, who got off the mark with a neat clip for two. Sri Lanka will be keen to ensure that they don’t have to bat again, so we can safely assume that a declaration is not likely until the evening session.
It didn’t take very long for Mahela Jayawardene to reach his second consecutive Test century and his third against India. The former Sri Lankan vice captain, on 95 overnight, started with a controlled four to the third man boundary and then pull-swept Harbhajan Singh disdainfully to the midwicket boundary.
Indian captain Sourav Ganguly had opened the bowling with Venkatesh Prasad, his best bowler yesterday, and Harbhajan, who had been predictable and uninspiring yesterday. Prasad bowled a six over burst (6-1-21-0) before he was replaced by a gingerly-looking Zaheer Khan, who may well have picked up a niggling injury or strain.
Hashan Tillakaratne, out of sorts and under pressure, started tentatively, but has grown in confidence and his feet are now moving with greater assurance. He enjoyed one slice of luck though when an attempted drive of Harbhajan flew through the slips when he was on 13, but since then he has hit three fours.
Jayawardene has been in sparkling form. He has been particularly harsh on Harbhajan twice lofting him down the ground and frequently late cutting him with great dexterity.
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Date-stamped : 01 Sep2001 - 22:44