Sri Lanka 425 (Samaraweera 137, Sangakkara 75, Ojha 4-115, Ishant 3-72) and 45 for 2 (Sehwag 2-11) lead India 436 (Sehwag 109, Raina 62, Laxman 56, Randiv 4-80) by 34 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
| |||
| Related Links Analysis : Indian twist in the tail Matches: Sri Lanka v India at Colombo (PSS) Series/Tournaments: India tour of Sri Lanka | |||
Fortunes ebbed and flowed on the third day with India sneaking ahead by the close. The hosts undermined a blistering knock by Virender Sehwag with early wickets before Suresh Raina and VVS Laxman launched a recovery. Their departure, in quick succession, saw spirited batting from India's lower order to scale Sri Lanka's first-innings total, and Sehwag's double-strike just before stumps set up a fascinating face-off over the next two days amid encouraging conditions for the bowlers.
The game was on even terms when Sri Lanka began their second innings but their attempts to set India a sizable target had to stand the test of a track offering some turn and extra bounce. The left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha was introduced as early as the seventh over and Tharanga Paranavitana and Tillakaratne Dilshan set about trying to unsettle him immediately, playing the pull, the sweep and even charging out. Paranavitana swung and missed and survived a close shave when he played one just wide of short leg.
MS Dhoni opted for the offspinner at the other end, and Sehwag made an immediate impact. He slipped in a quicker one on a length to which Paranavitana erred by playing back and edged to Dhoni. Dilshan was fortunate to survive an lbw shout off an arm ball by Ojha but was caught superbly the next over by M Vijay at forward short leg, as he inside-edged a turning delivery from Sehwag. The two wickets underscored the importance of India's lower-order resistance where the last three wickets accumulated 86 runs.
No comments:
Post a Comment