Sri Lanka grabbed three big wickets in the closing session to throw the second Test against India wide open on the third day yesterday.
India were strongly placed at 144-1 before slipping to 200-4 in their second innings at stumps, with Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis and Chaminda Vaas sharing the wickets. The tourists are now only 237 ahead with six wickets in hand.
Sourav Ganguly and Venkatsai Laxman had yet to open their accounts when bad light stopped play.
PHOTO: AP
India appeared to have seized the initiative after attacking knocks from Gautam Gambhir (74), Virender Sehwag (50), Rahul Dravid (44) and Sachin Tendulkar (31) before losing their way.
Sri Lanka were bowled out for 292 in their first innings on the stroke of lunch in reply to India’s 329, with skipper Mahela Jayawardene top-scoring with a stylish 86.
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh played a big role in India gaining the lead as he grabbed 6-102 for his 22nd haul of five or more wickets in a Test innings. He was brilliantly supported by leg-spinner Anil Kumble (3-81).
Gambhir and Sehwag then gave India a flying start for a second successive time in the match, adding 90 for the opening wicket. They had put on 167 in the first innings.
Sehwag again showed the way as he followed his first-innings 201 not out with a blazing fifty, blunting the Sri Lankan spin attack with his aggressive approach.
He reached his fifty off 49 balls before he fell playing an uppish drive off pace man Vaas, with Tillakaratne Dilshan timing his jump to perfection to take a superb catch in the covers.
Gambhir, who made 56 in the first innings, also used his feet remarkably well against spinners Mendis and Muralitharan to complete a second successive half-century.
He had been batting fluently before being bowled by Mendis, attempting to pad away a delivery that turned in sharply to hit the off-stump.
Sri Lanka bounced back into the match when they dismissed Tendulkar and Dravid in the space of eight deliveries.
Tendulkar was caught in the slips driving a delivery from Vaas, while Dravid was adjudged leg before wicket off Muralitharan.
Dravid was initially given not out by umpire Billy Doctrove, but the Sri Lanka captain requested the official to review the decision under a new experimental rule which is on trial in the series.
Doctrove changed his decision after consulting TV umpire Gamini Silva of Sri Lanka.
The Indian spinners earlier shattered Sri Lanka’s hopes of gaining the lead by sharing five wickets, with Kumble taking three and Harbhajan two. The hosts could add only 77 to their overnight total of 215-5.
Jayawardene, averaging 99.21 before this match at the Galle International Stadium, was the lone batsman to thwart the Indian spinners. He looked set to complete his 24th Test hundred before being caught behind off Kumble.
The teams observed a two-minute silence before the match in memory of former India batsman Ashok Mankad.
Sri Lanka lead 1-0 in the three-match series following their win by an innings and 239 runs in the opening Test in Colombo.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS