India made two changes for this game. Standbye opener M. Vijay came in for Gautam Gambhir who did not recover fully from a wobbly right knee, while the flu-stricken Yuvraj Singh was replaced by debutant Suresh Raina.

It was though, a Sri Lanka show all day with their batsmen ruling against an attack that again lacked bite. The strokes that flowed from Sangakkara’s blade were imperious. At the same time there was little from the bowlers that took him out of his comfort zone. The batsmen thrived in their strong areas.

Paranavitana chopping the ball on to his stumps off Ishant Sharma provided India a rare post-tea success. With a strong batting lineup to follow, the scene is ominous for India. M.S. Dhoni’s ill luck with the coin continued and within the first hour, that produced 67 runs, the script became crystal clear. With the spinners unable to get anything off this track, the misery was compounded.

The day started with Dhoni and the slip cordon standing a foot deeper than usual. It suggested a bouncy strip but it was nothing close to it. Abhimanyu Mithun started with a poor line but came back well. Ishant at the other end proved easy fodder. Tillakaratne Dilshan was severe on everything that was within his arc. Paranavitana grew assured with a combination of tight defence and attack.

Dilshan moved to fast forward mode very quickly. In five balls from Ishant, he picked four boundaries. Two wristy flicks were followed by two brutal drives hit on the up.

A change of ends for Mithun saw Dilshan collect three more boundaries, employing the pull to perfection. The opener raced to his50 in 39 balls before falling to Pragyan Ojha. V.V.S. Laxman picked up a smart catch at short covers when Dilshan failed to keep a drive along the ground.

A lot depended on Harbhajan Singh. The of-spinner started well by tossing the ball up and take the fight to the opposition but that was short lived as he went back to a lower trajectory and a predictable line. Lunch was taken at 128/1 in 29 overs. Round one to Lanka.

Sangakkara and Paranavitana cashed in on a tiring attack and a settled wicket. Paranavitana’s late cut off Ishant and a massive six off Harbhajan were diary moments.

Harbhajan strangely did not believe in making the batsmen play. Both batsmen reached their century in the same over. Ojha’s blemish at mid-off allowed the opener to the coveted mark while Sangakkara lofted drive brought up his 23rd hundred.

The final session saw Mithun coming to bowl around the wicket, a lot later than he should have.

Dhoni tried an 8-1 off side field briefly but nothing worked. Ojha was not tight enough while Ishant and Mithun continued to supply at least one loose delivery per over.

The new ball was taken after 86.2 overs, more in hope than anything else. The first ball with the new cherry from Mithun was a full toss that Sangakkara duly despatched to the fence. It aptly summed up India’s day.

The 300 came in the penultimate over as Mahela Jayawardene got a good look in.

Scoreboard
Sri lanka (1st innings)
T. Paranavitana b Ishant 100, T. Dilshan c Laxman b Ojha 54, K. Sangakkara batting 130, M. Jayawardene batting 13
Extras (b4, lb6, w1, nb4)
15
Total (in 90 overs) 312/2
FoW: 1-99, 2-273
Bowling: Mithun 17-4-75-0, Ishant 15-4-66-1 (nb2), Ojha 23-5-59-1 (nb2), Harbhajan 22-3-61-0 (w1), Sehwag 9-0-26-0, Raina 4-0-15-0

Source :DC

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