Jayawardenes put Lankans in box-seat
After the Lankan batsmen tormented Indian bowling attack for 201 overs to score a massive 760 for 7, India finished day-four at 190 for 2, still trailing by 144 runs.
 The Mahela-Prasanna duo put on a world record partnership of 351 runs for the 6th wicket. © AFP |
Riding on the brilliance of the Jayawardenes, Mahela (275) and Prasanna (154*), who carved out a world record 351-run partnership for the sixth wicket, the visitors declared at 760 for 7, handing out a sizeable lead of 334 runs.
In turn, India finished day-four with Gautam Gambhir (74*) and night-watchman Amit Mishra (12*) at the crease, losing Virender Sehwag (51) and Rahul Dravid (38) in the bargain.
The day truly belonged to the two Jayawardenes. The duo notched up a record sixth-wicket partnership of 351 runs, which bettered the long-standing record of 346 runs between Jack Fingleton and Sir Don Bradman in 1937. On their way, while Mahela (267) joined the elite club of 9,000 Test runs (being the ninth batsman to do so), Prasanna (154*) became the first wicketkeeper to cross the 150-run mark in a Test innings in India.
Both the batsmen exploited the innocuous medium pace of Ishant and Zaheer, which at times even clocked 125kph. Ishant was highly wayward with his line and kept getting clobbered all over the park. The spinning duo of Harbhajan and Mishra equally suffered at the hands of two batsmen, who were in sublime touch. Each of the four bowlers conceded more than 100 runs, with Mishra leading the pack with 203 runs for the lone wicket of Mahela.
In reply, Gambhir and Sehwag provided India with a confident start, putting 81 runs on board. Sehwag started off in his typically aggressive style, coming forward and driving through the covers. After surviving a couple of edges, Sehwag got into the self-destruction mode; he played one shot too many and holed out to Angelo Mathews at mid-on after trying to loft left-arm spinner Rangana Herath out of the park. Sri Lanka got the crucial breakthrough in the first over after tea, with Sehwag departing for a 63-ball 51.
 Gautam Gambhir leads the Indian fightback with an unbeaten 74 runs. © AFP |
Gambhir did well to rectify his first innings failure and got back to his consistent ways by bringing up his 11th half-century. He batted solidly for his unbeaten 74; the trademark cover-drives and flicks showed his intent for a fightback.
Just when Gambhir and Dravid (38) were looking to steer India to the end of day’s play, Welegedara struck. He had Dravid lbw though the replay showed the decision was a tad harsh on the batsman, as the ball was going down the leg side.
Sangakkara tried to suffocate night-watchman Amit Mishra with a slip, a silly-point and a forward short-leg in place, but the leggie did a commendable job with the bat and hung in till the end.
The Sri Lankan bowlers looked far from threatening, as the pitch didn’t quite prove an ally even in the fag end of the fourth day. While the pacers bowled an inconsistent line, spraying all over, the spinners lacked the bite to pose any danger to the batsmen.
With India still 144 runs behind Sri Lanka’s lead of 334 and the final day left to negotiate, the Sri Lankan bowlers, especially Muttiah Murlitharan, will be looking to run through the Indian batting for the elusive Test victory in India.
