Day and Match Point, Sri Lanka

Some insipid bowling and batting performance led to a deficit of about 380 runs with 7 wickets in hand and 2 full days remaining - SL would not have asked for more, as Rahul Dravid running himself our and Sachin to a faulty shot selection.

What looked like a seamers paradise in the morning with Ishant had all the batsman spellbound with some captivating seam and swing bowling. From 236/3, India managed to halt SL's progress of 393/7. But, from thereon, India allowed Malinga and Herath to prosper and thereby register their personal career best score of 80* and 64 respectively, thus taking the match away from India.

India need to bat session-by-session tomorrow


India's performance looks very far from the World No.1 status. It is high time, some strong messages are sent by Kirsten to senior players, lest the ranking will slip before they realise.

The 115-run partnership between Herath and Malinga was as delightful as it was unexpected and the crowd loved it. Herath impressed with several high-quality shots and Malinga alternated between defence and fury during a joyous effort. Within his first six deliveries, Herath had declared his intent with two boundaries. The outstanding shot of his stay was a thunderous six off Abhimanyu Mithun: Herath smoked a short-of-length delivery on the up over long-on. It was imperious and it certainly wasn't the shot of a lower-order batsman.


As you would expect in such a knock, there was an edged boundary and a slashed four over slips but, for the main part, Herath was composed and confident. There were several on-the-up shots, a few well-judged leaves outside off, and a few tight defensive strokes. What really stood out was how well he paced his innings. Herath counterattacked at the start as he pursued quick runs but, realising India's spirit had evaporated in the afternoon sun and Malinga was not going to be blown away, he started to play second fiddle. Post Malinga's fall, Herath once again became the attacker and charmed the crowd with an audacious inside-out hit over covers off Mithun.

Malinga gave the fans one more reason to smile at the end of the day. He mis-fielded at mid-off and distracted Dravid into thinking there was an extra run. To Dravid's horror, he was not even in the frame when Malinga fired an accurate throw at the non-striker's end. More joy awaited them when Tendulkar chose to sweep a full delivery from Muttiah Muralitharan and was trapped in front.

Only Sehwag stood tall. He went at almost a run a ball but he never appeared to take any risks. Every bad ball - and those marginally off line or length - was put away. He played all his feature shots: The back-foot punchy drive through point, the crashing cover drive, the paddle sweep and the charge down the track. But with the top-order batsmen combusting around him, India have their task cut out for them. Sehwag made a classy 85 but it seemed just a footnote on a strange day.

India have now to depend on Sehwag, Yuvaraj for their agressive intent on one-end and solidity in the form of Laxman on the other end.. India need to play session-by-session to see them through this test. India needs to ensure no wickets fall in the 1st session. But still, I can depend on the Rain God to save India from loosing than see the World No. 1 players performing so poorly....