Galle, July 21: Lack of application and poor shot selection marked India’s downfall in the first Test here on Wednesday. Asked to follow on after falling short by 244 runs, the visitors were 181/5 at stumps in their second innings, needing to score a further 63 runs to make Sri Lanka bat again.
Muttiah Muralitharan picked five wickets in the first innings and added the scalp of Yuvraj Singh in the second and is now two short of reaching the 800-wicket mark in thuis, his farewell Test.
Facing an uphill task, India lost Gautam Gambhir early and Virender Sehwag succumbed yet again to the square cut. Veterans Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid battled hard for 156 minutes to put on 119 run for the third wicket and their association looked like carrying the day but the introduction of Lasith Malinga with 11 overs to stumps saw Dravid flicking a close ball on the leg stump to Kumar Sangakkara at short square leg. The batsman paid the price for not knowing his field.
Malinga struck again in his next over. A well-directed inswinging yorker beat Tendulkar to trap him in front. Yuvraj found his nemesis Murali hard to handle and duly edged to slip. Play was called off at that instant.
Malinga’s searing pace with three fielders close in on the leg side, proved to be the difference between a final day of hope and academic interest. The last three overs were played under questionable light with V.V.S Laxman batting on nine.
Following his century in the first innings, Sehwag provided a flying start in the second. Looking at ease when his colleagues struggled, the opener held the key to India salvaging pride and his dismissal literally shut all options for India.
Dravid and Tendulkar provided hope but one poor shot or a dream delivery was always around the corner. The battle between Murali and Tendulkar was a classic. The batsman put the paddle sweep to good effect whenever an opportunity was presented and emerged on top. It presented for good quality Test match viewing. The negative line adopted by the spinners was uncalled for.
Earlier in the day, India, in arrears by 340 runs, were in for a thorough examination by the pace-spin combine of Malinga and Murali. The ploy from Sri Lanka was simple and effective. The field to Sehwag was aimed at denying boundaries. For Laxman there were more fielders in catching positions.
Still, Sehwag continued to march on. A perfectly still head that aided balance, he stroked his way to his 20th Test century of 108 balls.
At a time when the bowlers were running out of options, Sehwag chased a wide delivery from Welegedera to be snapped up at slip. Laxman, tested by a barrage of bouncers from Lasith Malinga finally fell, unable to resist the hook. The fielder placed positioned specifically for that shot made no mistake.
Yuvraj and M.S. Dhoni had a big repair job to do and they set about their task well. A couple of excellent cover drives helped Yuvraj move on. The last second adjustment showed the form the southpaw was in. Dhoni’s methods against Malinga and Murali (brought on after 75 minutes) did not look convincing but the captain as usual hung in.
A few streaky hits over the slip cordon helped Dhoni find his bearings.
Yuvraj made optimum use of a wayward Rangana Herath. A six over long on stood out for excellent use of the feet. The partnership went at nearly run a ball before Murali plugged the flow.
Dhoni’s airy drive to a well tossed up off break allowed the ball to take a faint inside edge before crashing to the leg stump. Yuvraj was then consumed by Murali with the conventional off-break. The nick was taken by Mahela Jayawerdena, the first of his four fine catches for the day.
With three minutes left on the clock for lunch, Harbhajan Singh decided to launch an offensive against Herath and the result was an easy stumping. From a comfortable 252/5, India were reduced to 259/8 in a trice.
It was easy pickings for Murali post-lunch as he spun out Pragyan Ojha and Abhimanyu Mithun, in the process, becoming the first bowler to take 100 wickets against India in Tests.
Scoreboard
Sri Lanka 1st innings 520/8 decl.
India 1st innings
G. Gambhir lbw b Malinga 2, V. Sehwag c Paranavitana b Welegedara 109, R. Dravid run out 18, S. Tendulkar lbw b Muralitharan 8, V.V.S. Laxman c Dilshan b Malinga 22, Y. Singh c M. Jayawardene b Muralitharan 52, Mahendra Singh Dhoni b Muralitharan 33, H. Singh st P. Jayawardene b Herath 2, Ishant Sharma not out 5, Pragyan Ojha c M. Jayawardene b Muralitharan 3, A. Mithun b Muralitharan 8.
Extras (b1, lb1, w2, nb10) 14
Total (all out in 65 overs) 276
FoW: 1-2, 2-68, 3-101, 4-169, 5-178, 6-252, 7-259, 8-259, 9-266, 10-276.
Bowling: Malinga 13-0-55-2, Welegedara 11-1-69-1, Herath 18-1-62-1, Mathews 5-0-19-0, Muralitharan 17-1-63-5, Dilshan 1-0-6-0.
India 2nd innings
G. Gambhir c P. Jayawardene b Malinga 0, V. Sehwag c M. Jayawardene b Welegedara 31, R. Dravid c Sangakkara b Malinga 44, S. Tendulkar lbw b Malinga 84, V.V.S. Laxman not out 9, Y. Singh c M. Jayawardene b Muralitharan 5.
Extras (lb3, w1, nb4) 8
Total (in 59.3 overs) 181/5
FoW: 1-0, 2-42, 3-161, 4-172, 5-181.
Bowling: Malinga 9-2-33-3 (nb2), Welegedara 6-1-26-1 (nb1), Herath 14-2-27-0 (nb1), Mathews 7-3-13-0 (w1), Muralitharan 18.3-1-57-1, Dilshan 5-0-22-0.