India pushed to the wall as Lanka pile up mammoth total

Tue, Jul 20 10 06:57 PM

T V Sriram Galle (Sri Lanka), Jul 20 (PTI) India were left with an arduous task of batting their way to safety after losing three key wickets in the rain-hit first cricket Test against Sri Lanka who took firm control of the game by scoring an imposing first innings total of 520 for 8 declared here today. The hosts relied on the the heroics of their tailenders Rangana Herath (80 not out) and Lasith Malinga (64) to rattle up a mammoth total before declaring their innings at tea and shut a struggling India out of the game. Herath and Malinga turned out to be the unlikely batting heroes as the islanders recovered from a few early jolts and had the visitors in trouble by the end of the day by dismissing Gautam Gambhir (2), Rahul Dravid (18) and Sachin Tendulkar (8). Virender Sehwag (85), who payed with his usual flamboyance, and VVS Laxman (18) ensured that there were no more setbacks as they took the score to 140 for three at close on the third day with the hosts still trailing by 380 runs. With two days left in the match and the pitch at the Galle International stadium expected to deteriorate, the Indians need to bat out of their skin to ensure that Muttiah Muralitharan''s swansong Test ends in a draw. The day clearly belonged to the hosts as they not only consolidated their position by amassing a huge score but also scalped three prized wickets. While Gambhir perished in Malinga''s first over, Dravid was run out trying to go for a cheeky single. But the biggest blow for the visitors came when Tendulkar was trapped leg before by Muralitharan. Earlier, the Indians managed to claw back into the game to some extent in the pre-lunch session as they evicted Tharanga Paranavitana (111), Thilan Samaraweera (0), Mahela Jayawardene (48) and Angelo Mathews (41). But the late order belligerence of Herath and Malinga took the game completely away from the Indians. After the second day was completely washed out, play resumed today after an hour''s delay with Sri Lanka at 256 for two and the Indians managed to get a few quick wickets in the opening session. Ishant, who has been struggling for quite some time, tasted his first success when he induced a nick from centurion Paranavitana which went straight to wicketkeeper Dhoni. Paranavitana (111) poked at the moving delivery off the backfoot and the diving Indian skipper made no mistake. Debutant Abhimanyu Mithun then struck another blow to the Lankan line-up when he had new batsman Thilan Samaraweera (0) trapped leg before. More PTI TVS MRM

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