Colombo, Aug. 4: India’s disciplined effort with the ball, and a strong batting reply has left the final Test tantalisingly poised. Resuming on the second day at 293/4, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 425. Led by a buoyant Virender Sehwag, unbeaten on 97 (87b, 17x4), India took stumps at 180/2, Sachin Tendulkar also unbeaten on 40. Earlier Thilan Samaraweera notched up his 12th hundred to help Sri Lanka reach their total.

Openers M. Vijay and Virender Sehwag survived a fiery opening burst from Lasith Malinga to lay the foundation. Sehwag who was slow to start by his standards, found his bearings when he stroked Chanaka Welegedera to the fence thrice. It was thereafter an array of boundaries from Sehwag as Vijay took the best seat in the stadium. Vijay too essayed a few fluent drives of his own before the field set for the bouncer-happy Malinga worked when he pitched the ball up and Vijay obliged by driving without using his feet. The uppish hit was held by Ajantha Mendis

Rahul Dravid oozed confidence, picking Malinga for consecutive fours and repeating the act against Welegedera. Sehwag continued in top gear to post his 50 in 44 balls. Angelo Mathews brought on from the press box end responded immediately by removing Dravid. The batsman, trying to whip the ball across from the middle stump, missed the line with the ball heading for his leg stump. In the next over Mathews failed to cap a wonderful day when he failed to latch on to a straightforward chance off Sehwag. The loss of two wickets did not deter Sehwag who continued to punish the bowlers.

Failing light and a plethora of optimistic appeals marked the last hour of play. Tendulkar was business as as usual. Going fully forward or back, he treated the bowling on merit. Sehwag refused to put away his low percentage shots and was lucky to get away. Play was called off with two scheduled overs remaining.

Earlier, looking to strike early, Abhimanyu Mithun’s overeager approach resulted in him losing direction. The only occasion where he came close to a wicket was when Samaraweera slashed hard and Sehwag at gully made no real attempt. Pragyan Ohja did not disappoint when he was brought on. The spinner was rewarded when Mathews played down the wrong line to a perfectly pitched armer. The partnership between Mathews and Samaraweera was worth 89.

The attack was basically reduced to one bowler. Ojha looked the only threat while Amit Mishra continued to be short of luck and easy fodder.

The game was drifting away from the visitors but Ojha struck again when Prasanna Jayawardene played the sweep to a full delivery.

The first session was worth 76 runs for two wickets in 30.1 overs.

Scoreboard

Sri Lanka 1st innings
(overnight 293/4)
T. Paranavitana c Dhoni b Ishant 8, T. Dilshan run out 41, K. Sangakkara c Sehwag b Ojha 75, M. Jayawardene lbw b Ojha 56, T. Samaraweera not out 137, A. Mathews lbw b Ojha 45, P. Jayawardene lbw b Ojha 9, S. Randiv c Dravid b Sehwag 8, L. Malinga c&b Mishra 4, A. Mendis c Raina b Ishant 3, C. Welegedara c Dhoni b Ishant 4.
Extras (b8, lb4, w7, nb16) 35
Total (in 138 overs) 425
FoW: 1-15, 2-102, 3-157, 4-241, 5-330, 6-359, 7-381, 8-386, 9-421, 10-425.
Bowling: Mithun 22-2-78-0, Ishant Sharma 23-6-72-3, Mishra 42-3-140-1, Ojha 46-10-115-4, Sehwag 5-0-8-1
India 1st innings
M. Vijay c Mendis b Malinga 14, V. Sehwag batting 97, R. Dravid lbw b Mathews 23, S. Tendulkar batting 40.
Extras (lb1, w1, nb4) 6
Total (in 35 overs) 180/2
FoW: 1-49, 2-92.
Bowling: Malinga 11-1-52-1, Welegedara 9-0-65-0, Mendis 7-1-32-0, Mathews 4-0-13-1, Randiv 4-0-17-0.