Over in four, once again

Published : Aug 23, 2008 00:00 IST

The victorious Sri Lankan team.-AP
The victorious Sri Lankan team.-AP
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The victorious Sri Lankan team.-AP

That the third Test finished within four days, as had the two prior to it, says everything that needs to be said about the series, writes S. Ram Mahesh.

And so it ended, with Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan captain, cutting Sourav Ganguly’s gently delivered ball for four, bringing the drum-beating, flag-waving hundreds at the P. Sarvanamuttu Stadium to their feet, and sealing a 2-1 win in what was an intriguing, entertaining Test series — even if it didn’t consistently touch the high standards that were expected before it got underway at the Sinhalese Sports Club in late July.

That the third Test finished within four days, as had the two prior to it, says everything that needs to be said about the series. Mahela summed it up rather well, so we’ll let him do the honours: “Both teams had really good bowlers. I think they controlled this Test series, the bowlers of both teams. The bowlers should get a lot of credit because they kept a lot of good batsmen under control on this wicket.” Left unsaid by Mahela was that the series also featured a lot of batting that was decidedly below Test standard, plenty from the Indians. Had the Indian middle-order consistently shown the application Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman did on the third evening and the fourth morning, India might have travelled back across the Palk Straits with the series won.

“The batsmen did not do well,” said Anil Kumble, the Indian captain. “And that cost us the series. The middle-order not getting the runs proved critical. Our batting was never consistent. Even in Galle, where we were 170 (sic) for no loss and should have made 400. And we can’t lose five wickets in 40 overs, and that has happened a few times.”

India lost the momentum early in the third Test, after Kumble had won an ‘important’ toss. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir got the side off to a flyer for the third time in as many innings, but things went south thereafter. Dammika Prasad, on Test debut, struck thrice. He got a delivery to straighten on Sehwag, and the resultant nick was pouched by Prasanna Jayawardene, the wicketkeeper.

Prasad then switched ends, reduced his pace a fraction to the mid-to-high 130s, and struck a vital double blow. He snared both Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar with deliveries that swung in marginally.

Gambhir batted beautifully however for his third successive half-century. Just as Gambhir and Ganguly seemed to have wrested the initiative, Muralitharan dismissed the latter. The rest of the innings was a blur; the only thing that registered was a heartening 51-run partnership for the 10th wicket between Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma (who bruised his glut muscle later while bowling).

Sri Lanka’s innings was anchored admirably by Kumar Sangakkara, who batted over seven hours for his 144. The concentration he displayed was exceptional, and barring the chance he gave at 34, a hard catch fast and low to Dravid’s left off Kumble, the left-hander played serenely. “I was very happy to get the hundred,” said Sangakkara. “I always say a hundred is a hundred. This was one of the more difficult hundreds to get. But at the same time, when you are a batsman, that’s basically your job — every time you go out, you try and get runs.”

Sangakkara trusted the ability of night-watchman Chaminda Vaas, exploiting India’s ploy of giving the specialist batsman the easy single. “There are times in an innings when you think this is the time to accelerate a bit, be a bit more aggressive. And the good thing was there was a period when we didn’t have men around the bat, the field was well spread. So there was very little risk to really take. Reading those situations, knowing when to attack was what got me through,” he said.

The Sri Lankan lower order frustrated India’s bowlers, Dammika Prasad and Ajantha Mendis adding to the efforts of Prasanna Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera to build a lead of 147. It must be mentioned that Samaraweera was reprieved by a referral. The batsman appeared plumb in front with the match still open, but the umpire Mark Benson, after consulting with television umpire Billy Doctrove, decided not to overturn his initial decision.

Prasad and Mendis then broke India’s back in its second innings. The seamer removed both Sehwag and Gambhir after another frenetic start, the former slashing to gully and the latter inside-edging a pull.

Sachin Tendulkar and V. V. S. Laxman, both injured during the Test, didn’t bat at their usual positions, but were forced to come out late on the third day.

Mendis broke Sir Alec Bedser’s record of 24 wickets in a debut three-Test series when he dismissed Tendulkar. The master batsman, who, with Ganguly, failed to total a 100 in six innings in the series, didn’t play a stroke at a googly, hiding bat behind pad. India was five down at stumps on the third day, and ahead by only 14. Dravid and Laxman prolonged the contest on the fourth day, but although Harbhajan and Zaheer struck early in Sri Lanka’s second innings, Malinda Warnapura and Jayawardene controlled the pursuit of 122 to secure the series win.

The Scores

Third Test, Colombo, August 8-11. Sri Lanka won by eight wickets.

India — 1st innings: G. Gambhir lbw b Mendis 72; V. Sehwag c P. Jayawardene b Prasad 21; R. Dravid lbw b Prasad 10; S. Tendulkar lbw b Prasad 6; S. Ganguly c M. Jayawardene b Muralitharan 35; V. V. S. Laxman st. P. Jayawardene b Mendis 25; P. Patel lbw b Mendis 13; A. Kumble b Mendis 1; Harbhajan Singh c Vandort b Muralitharan 3; I. Sharma (not out) 17; Zaheer Khan st. P. Jayawardene b Mendis 32; Extras (b-1, lb-8, nb-5) 14. Total: 249.

Fall of wickets: 1-51, 2-92, 3-102, 4-151, 5-155, 6-190, 7-195, 8-196, 9-198.

Sri Lanka bowling: Vaas 12-1-44-0; Prasad 17-0-82-3; Mendis 28-4-56-5; Muralitharan 23-3-58-2.

Sri Lanka — 1st innings: M. Vandort lbw b Zaheer 14; M. Warnapura b I. Sharma 8; C. Vaas c Sehwag b Harbhajan 47; K. Sangakkara c Patel b Kumble 144; M. Jayawardene lbw b Harbhajan 2; T. Samaraweera c Patel b Zaheer 35; T. Dilshan lbw b Kumble 23; P. Jayawardene c Harbhajan b Zaheer 49; D. Prasad st. Patel b Harbhajan 36; A. Mendis lbw b Kumble 17; M. Muralitharan (not out) 0; Extras (b-4, lb-14, w-2, nb-1) 21. Total: 396.

Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-42, 3-137, 4-141, 5-201, 6-244, 7-324, 8-367, 9-396.

India bowling: Zaheer 32-5-105-3; I. Sharma 15.3-3-33-1; Harbhajan 40.3-8-104-3; Kumble 41.2-4-123-3; Sehwag 2-0-2-0; Ganguly 3-0-11-0.

India — 2nd innings: G. Gambhir b Prasad 26; V. Sehwag c Samaraweera b Prasad 34; R. Dravid c M. Jayawardene b Mendis 68; S. Ganguly lbw b Muralitharan 18; P. Patel lbw b Mendis 1; S. Tendulkar lbw b Mendis 14; V. V. S. Laxman (not out) 61; A. Kumble lbw b Muralitharan 9; Harbhajan Singh lbw b Vaas 26; Zaheer Khan (run out) 0; I. Sharma c Warnapura b Muralitharan 0; Extras (b-5, lb-3, w-2, nb-1) 11. Total: 268.

Fall of wickets: 1-62, 2-65, 3-108, 4-109, 5-131, 6-216, 7-229, 8-266, 9-268.

Sri Lanka bowling: Vaas 5-0-20-1; Prasad 11-0-60-2; Muralitharan 37.5-4-99-3; Mendis 34-7-81-3.

Sri Lanka — 2nd innings: M. Vandort b Harbhajan 8; M. Warnapura (not out) 54; K. Sangakkara c Gambhir b Zaheer 4; M. Jayawardene (not out) 50; Extras (b-4, lb-3) 7. Total: (for two wkts.) 123.

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-22.

India bowling: Zaheer 6-1-22-1; Harbhajan 14-2-44-1; Kumble 10-2-34-0; Sehwag 3-0-12-0; Ganguly 0.1-0-4-0.

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