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Sri Lanka wraps up series in style

S. Ram Mahesh

India pays the price for its mistakes in the Test

— Photo: AFP

PAT FOR THE SKIPPER: Mahela Jayawardene (right) is greeted by Kumar Sangakkara after guiding his team to a series win.

Colombo: There was to be no magic at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium on Monday, although India, through Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman, and Harbhajan Singh, tried its hardest, extending the third Test deep into the fourth day.

But eventually the mistakes and the misfortunes of the days past caught up, as they must: the batting failure after winning the toss; the inability (compounded by Ishant Sharma’s injury and a dodgy referral) to curtail the Sri Lankan lower half; the collapse after tea on day three. Sri Lanka completed an eight-wicket win on Monday evening, Malinda Warnapura and Mahela Jayawardene controlling a comfortable chase, to deservedly win the three-Test series 2-1.

Anxious moments

There were a few anxious moments in the pursuit of 122, however. Harbhajan tricked a skidder with the new ball through Michael Vandort, and Zaheer Khan had first-innings century maker Kumar Sangakkara caught at mid-off with a delivery that stopped on the left-hander.

But Warnapura (54 n.o.) and Jayawardene (50 n.o.) staunched the blood flow. Both batsmen survived close referrals for leg-before; they stayed firm, although Jayawardene indulged in the reverse-sweep (not the switch hit, for he didn’t change his grip) when victory was near. The Sri Lankan captain cut Sourav Ganguly for the winning runs.

Thus ended a day that had begun with the continuation of a fightback, growing from token to mildly substantial. Dravid and Laxman took India through the first hour on Monday morning, suffering just one alarm — Laxman squeezed a Muttiah Muralitharan delivery to short mid-wicket where Thilan Samaraweera’s best swan dive wasn’t enough.

Otherwise, Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis were countered skilfully; the spinners didn’t appear the sustained menace they have at other phases during the series, and as fine as Dravid and Laxman’s defensive play was, Jayawardene’s fields had something to do with it.

The Sri Lankan captain has justly earned a reputation as an astute and innovative tactician. Perhaps, the fields he set early on Monday were all part of an elaborate ploy; but frankly — to lesser minds at least — they made little sense. Why wouldn’t you attack with a slip when you have a side effectively on 14 for five? Particularly when Mendis’s carom ball cuts that way, as does Muralitharan’s doosra, enhanced from around the wicket?

What made it all the more curious was that the absence of silly-point (and the presence of a deep squarish third-man) was prompting a few open-face strokes. If Jayawardene was looking to harvest the inside edge to short-leg or indeed to short mid-wicket (thoroughly plausible scenarios when open bat faces and off-breaks are involved), he had underestimated Dravid and Laxman.

Soft hands

Both batsmen played either fully forward or fully back, almost stepping on their stumps — and as far as possible with soft hands ahead of their pads. Dravid, who struck Muralitharan for four through cover to bring up his first half-century in six innings this series, appeared to have regained the hard-bitten edge that has characterised his many back-against-the-wall compositions.

It’s ridiculous to suggest that the 35-year-old looked a soft touch this series, but he hadn’t seemed certain of himself. During his 44 at Galle, there were moments when he was the wilful batsman of old; here, in the heat of battle, even if it might have appeared a lost cause to others, he showed there are few better under pressure.

Dravid’s three-hour-forty-minute 68 wasn’t error-free. Providential inside edges had kept him alive on Sunday evening. He landed his bat late on intended cuts on Monday, barely keeping ball from stumps; on one occasion, he misread a Muralitharan off-break, taking it to be the doosra, and shaped to leave it before hurriedly playing, having seen it off the wicket. But he apportioned his concentration magnificently, focusing solely on the next delivery.

Having picked Mendis from the hand, Dravid fell to a change of angle. Mendis’s 26th wicket of the series confirmed that he will be immense: after probing in vain, his inscrutability and control fetching nothing, Mendis switched to bowling around the wicket, not something all bowlers are comfortable with. The carom ball found the edge, Jayawardene took a splendid low catch at slip, and Dravid trudged off, intensely disappointed.

Laxman’s distinction

Laxman’s unconquered 61 was every bit as stirring as Dravid’s effort. He became the eighth Indian past 6,000 Test runs; none of the seven luminaries who preceded him, however, has completed the last few metres on one good leg.

Fortunately for Laxman, the bad leg was his front foot. He was thus able to anchor himself on the back foot and tread lightly. He pulled Prasad with authority, but his shot of the innings was a molten punch off the back foot through cover.

Harbhajan, parading a cunning lap-sweep, a vicious square-cut, and a good deal of nerve, contributed 26, as the Indian lead breached a hundred. The second new ball, and a touch of lefty Chaminda Vaas swing, did for him.

Kumble and Ishant (whose presence with runner made the sum total of batsmen in the middle four) became Muralitharan’s 20th and 21st wickets of the series. In between Zaheer forced Samaraweera into brilliance, the batsman running on a misfield and seeing the prone fielder throw the stumps down.

Laxman was stranded; if it’s any consolation, he fought the good fight.

SCOREBOARD India — 1st innings: 249.

Sri Lanka — 1st innings: 396.

India — 2nd innings: G. Gambhir b Prasad 26, V. Sehwag c Samaraweera b Prasad 34, R. Dravid c M. Jayawardene b Mendis 68, S. Ganguly lbw b Muralitharan 18, P. Patel lbw b Mendis 1, S. Tendulkar lbw b Mendis 14, V.V.S. Laxman (not out) 61, A. Kumble lbw b Muralitharan 9, Harbhajan lbw b Vaas 26, Zaheer (run out) 0, Ishant c Warnapura b Muralitharan 0; Extras (b-5, lb-3, nb-1, w-2): 11; Total (in 87.5 overs): 268.

Fall of wickets: 1-62 (Sehwag), 2-65 (Gambhir), 3-108 (Ganguly), 4-109 (Parthiv), 5-131 (Tendulkar), 6-216 (Dravid), 7-229 (Kumble), 8-266 (Harbhajan), 9-268 (Zaheer).

Sri Lanka bowling: Vaas 5-0-20-1, Prasad 11-0-60-2, Muralitharan 37.5-4-99-3, Mendis 34-7-81-3.

Sri Lanka — 2nd innings: M. Vandort b Harbhajan 8, M. Warnapura (not out) 54, K. Sangakkara c Gambhir b Zaheer 4, M. Jayawardene (not out) 50; Extras (b-4, lb-3): 7; Total (for two wkts. in 33.1 overs): 123.

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Vandort), 2-22 (Sangakkara).

India bowling: Zaheer 6-1-22-1, Harbhajan 14-2-44-1, Kumble 10-2-34-0, Sehwag 3-0-12-0, Ganguly 0.1-0-4-0.

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