Sachin, Laxman lead India's rescue act

After Gautam Gambhir gave his wicket away immediately after lunch, the vastly experienced duo of Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman wiped off the Lankan lead and took India into the tea-break with seven runs ahead of Sri Lanka’s 334. As staying at the wicket and snuffing out the Lankan chance of a win were the need of the hour, runs came in a trickle. The second session produced 85 runs in 30 overs.

After Gautam Gambhir's (114) exit, it's Sachin Tendulkar who held fort for India. © AFP

Tendulkar (55) and Laxman (28) continued the rescue act with dogged determination. The Master Blaster, on his way to yet another Test half-century, celebrated his two decades of extraordinary career by bringing up his 30,000 runs in international cricket. As the champion batsman played an extremely guarded innings, he was well supported by Laxman, the man who often thrives in the pressure situation. The elegant right-hander once again stood up for his team, as he eased his way to a 78-ball 28 (n.o).

After being frustrated by the Indian batsmen in the first session, Sri Lanka came back to dismiss the dangerous Gambhir. The left-hander lost his temperament after the lunch-break and got caught at mid-off, trying to charge down the ground against the spin of Herath. Till that moment of madness, Gambhir had batted with immense patience, scoring 114 runs in 230 balls.

Soon after the fall of wicket, Sri Lankan skipper decided to take the new ball. Dammika Prasad, who was kept on the field despite his injury, had his first go with the ball since morning — he had bowled nine overs in the innings till then, all on day-four. Though the pacer tried his heart out, he struggled to get his rhythm going and was taken off after four overs. Welegedara bowled a good line, especially to Laxman, driving him forward to negotiate the full pitched deliveries.

The spinners soon came back into action but the wicket and the quality of the batsmen they were bowling to, prevented them from taking Lanka a wicket closer to a win. While Muralitharan continued to struggle, bowling flat on the dead track, Herath kept trying different things. He gave the ball a lot more flight, which lured Sehwag and Gambhir into suicidal big shots.