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| Viru is the man! Such is his dominance that the Lankan bowlers were left flat on their backs at the close of Day 2. Bad light, however, means that he has to wait another day for his 21st test century. His undefeated 88 partnership for Tendulkar has boosted India following the early dismissals of Vijay and Dravid. Sehwag was lucky to have been dropped on 52 by Mathews, while Tendulkar survived some close appeals towards the end. India go into day 3 with a lot of confidence while SL face an uphill task to contain them. |
Virender Sehwag led an attacking Indian response to Sri Lanka's challenge of a formidable score on a competitive pitch at the P Sara Oval. Thilan Samaraweera thwarted India's quest of early wickets on the second day with an assured century amid testing spells from Ishant Sharma and Pragyan Ojha, but Sehwag's counter-attack, with some fortune, helped the visitors even things out.
The signs were encouraging for Sri Lanka at the start of the Indian innings with the seamers finding swing while their counterparts had virtually found none. Lasith Malinga found the blockhole and hurled a couple of sharp bouncers, while Chanaka Welegedara got the ball to dart in. But the help from the conditions did not produce the edginess the bowlers would have hoped from the Indian openers, as Sehwag settled in with three consecutive boundaries - through point, mid-on and over midwicket - off Welegedera, who had dismissed him twice in the Galle Test.
The ploy then had been frustrate Sehwag with short deliveries outside off until he finally chased them to be caught at slip and gully. Angelo Mathews tried the same from round the wicket at the SSC and failed, and Welegedera's persistence in this Test was countered with calculated force. The vacant spaces in the leg side were picked, Sehwag slamming Welegedera over midwicket and square leg for a clutter of boundaries. And when pitched a touch wider, he obliged by flat-batting them through mid-off. Amid the targeted assault against Welegedera - struck for nine fours - Sehwag braved a thorny spell by Malinga, who ruffled him up with a bouncer and kept him on his toes with the deceptive slower one. But it was against Malinga that he played his best shot of the day - a punched back-foot drive past the umpire.
The hosts, however, did have their chances. They dismissed M Vijay and Rahul Dravid after both had begun positively, gave Sehwag a reprieve and came close to snaring Sachin Tendulkar. Vijay got going with a couple of crisp boundaries off Welegedara but spooned Malinga to extra cover soon after. Dravid had looked his most comfortable this series, driving Malinga down the ground and through midwicket and creaming Welegedara through the off side but his innings ended in a manner similar to the SSC. He played off the back foot to a length ball, was surprised as the ball skidded on and was trapped in front. Sri Lanka missed their biggest opportunity when Angelo Mathews spilled a return catch off Sehwag, and Tendulkar survived a scare when he edged Suraj Randiv just past slip.
The unbeaten pair, barring those moments, batted with fluency with Tendulkar flicking Malinga for runs through midwicket and fine leg, and Sehwag using the sweep and not wasting anything short against the spinners. There was turn and bounce on offer, giving the Indian batsmen the odd nervy moment, but did little to trouble an unshakeable Samaraweera earlier in the day.
Samaraweera's displayed an excellent grasp of the pitch. He played the ball late, spotted the lengths early and, against the spinners, was adept in his footwork and confident in defence, rarely failing to pick their variations or gauge the extent of turn. And he was opportunistic, dispatching the short balls . He began with a slash over gully off a wayward Abhimanyu Mithun that just evaded Sehwag, and pulled him again to fine leg. He struck his fifth four off Amit Mishra when gifted a long-hop, punched Ojha through the covers and reached his century with a nudge to the leg side.
He was at ease switching to an aggressive approach when batting with the tail, as he slog-swept Mishra and lofted Ojha twice over extra cover. The comfort with which he batted was a contrast to the struggles of his partners. Ojha deceived Mathews with an arm ball and sent back Prasanna Jayawardene with one that straightened while Ishant, who had proved threatening with movement off the deck, knocked off No.10 and 11 with deliveries banged in. Though Samaraweera had been left stranded, Sri Lanka had accumulated enough to put India under pressure but Sehwag jolted their hopes
