Colombo, Aug. 3: India’s poor luck with the coin continued as did their fortunes on the field. Failure to make the most of overcast conditions and a track with good bounce pushed them into a tight corner on the opening day of the third Test here on Tuesday as Sri Lanka progressed to 293/4 at stumps. Thilan Samaraweera with 65 (172m, 143b, 6x4) and Angelo Mathews (26) were at the crease.
It was not the start India wanted going into the series decider. Harbhajan Singh not recovering in time robbed the team of much required experience and leg-spinner Amit Mishra took his place. It was another below par bowling effort where overstepping came to be a cause of concern.
As many as 14 no balls did not help the team cause as the hosts thrived on India’s indiscipline, the spinners responsible for 11 of those.
At a venue where the average first innings score is 244, India should have done better. It was the familiar pair of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene that troubled the inept attack again.
For a change Ishant Sharma managed an early wicket when Tharanga Paranavitana was drawn forward on the drive to nick. The opener had started confidently with two boundaries but Ishant was rewarded for sticking to a fuller length.
With four slips and a gully in place, M.S. Dhoni gave the bowlers the best possible options with the new ball. A deep point for Tillakaratne Dilshan was also an attacking option with the short rising delivery.
Ishant’s first spell was impressive at 7-3-20-1. The only trick he missed was pitching up to Dilshan with two fielders stationed for the hook.
Abhimanyu Mithun did not trouble the batsmen initially. But the change of end worked well. Coming around the wicket to Sangakkara, Mithun moved the ball away with the angle to catch the outside edge but an overeager Suresh Raina lunged forward to grass the opportunity at third slip.
The ball was heading straight to V.V.S. Laxman at second slip.
Dilshan at the other end was kept quiet for a while before he broke the shackles with two well timed hits off Ishant.
Easy singles were allowed and Sangakkara settled down to play a few glorious drives off the front foot. It was shot-making of the highest order and it took brilliant reflex work from M. Vijay at silly point to catch Dilshan short of his crease. Dhoni was equally adept in collecting the ball and whipping the bails in a flash when the batsman took a stride forward off a no-ball. Lanka were 103/2 at lunch.
Mishra was the biggest disappointment of the day. His slowness through the air allowed the batsman to rock back and play the cut with ease.
Gaps were easily picked. The leggie’s failure to bowl the googly consistently was also baffling. Mithun worked hard at the other end and got the ball to straighten. Pragyan Ojha kept offering the ball on the pads, doing no justice to the strong off-side field.
It was a reckless shot from Sangakkara (77, 114b, 173m, 5x4, 2x6) that gifted India another wicket. With a long-on on place, the stroke was not on and Virender Sehwag took a well judged catch. Ojha was the beneficiary.
Mishra got two official warnings from umpire Simon Taufel for running on the wicket which only hampered his follow through later.
Ojha found more success when Jayawardene was adjudged leg before when the ball was clearly going above the stumps.
Strangely Sehwag was introduced only after 68 overs and not persisted with. The new ball was taken in the 83rd over with the score at 274/4.
Bad light forced an early closure.
Sri Lanka replaced Dammika Prasad and Dhilara Fernando with Lasith Malinga and Chanaka Welegedera.
Scoreboard
Sri lanka (1st innings)
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 batting 65, A. Matthews batting 26
Extras (b 4, lb 2, w 2, nb 14) 22
Total (in 86.5 overs) 293/4
FoW: 1-15, 2-102, 3-157, 4-241
Bowling: Mithun 17.5-2-57-0 (w2), Ishant 15-4-49-1 (nb3), Mishra 25-1-99-0 (nb6), Ojha 26-2-78-2 (nb4), Sehwag 3-0-4-0 (nb1)
* Sachin Tendulkar set a new record of the most capped player in Test history by appearing for the 169th time in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo on Tuesday.
* The master blaster, who made his Test debut in 1989 against Pakistan in Karachi, took 20 years and 261 days to set the record of playing the most number of Tests.
* Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh, who made his Test debut in 1985 against India in Melbourne, played his 168th and last Test against the same opponents after 18 years and seven days in Sydney in 2004.
S. Pervez Qaiser