Going into the second Test of an overseas series 1-0 down is something the Indians have grown quite accustomed to in recent years. But the manner of defeat here on Saturday will rankle them. After having been the dominant side for a good part of three days, they lost the Test in unseemly haste, just after lunch on day four.
From the overnight score of 23 for one, needing 153 more to win, India was bowled out for 112 in just 49.5 overs — its lowest-ever total against Sri Lanka.
Indeed, no side had ever chased a score more than 99 at Galle. Yet, in the list of batting collapses, it will be right up there with the worst, though still not as bad as Bridgetown, 1997 when 120 proved too far. These two are the only sub-200 totals India has failed to chase in more than eight decades.
The situation demanded a bit of courage, some batting skill and a tinge of ambition; all of which the Indian side had promised to show prior to the match. But come Saturday, Sri Lanka had them in much greater measure.
The pitch did assist the bowlers, spinners in particular. But one cannot recollect a single unplayable delivery, making the surrender all the more abject and totally unwarranted. Rangana Herath was the star for Sri Lanka, bowling 18 uninterrupted overs on either side of the lunch break for his six wickets on the day. He ended with figures of 21-6-48-7.
For someone who was dropped for the last Test against Pakistan, it was a revelation of character of the highest order. “This is not the first time that I was dropped from the team,” he said cheekily. “I’ve been dropped from the team so many times. For me, it’s like bread and butter.”
From the outset, Shikhar Dhawan came out blocking. He didn’t score off the first 35 deliveries he faced. Then, he inside-edged the 36th to fine-leg for four. The negativity he bred trickled down the order. Herath trapped Ishant Sharma — the night-watchman — in front with his first ball of the day.
Then in what was a classic left-arm spinner’s dismissal, he shook Rohit Sharma’s off stump, forcing the batsmen to play inside the line trying to avoid the lbw and avert the danger of the arm-ball. Rohit now totals a dismal 380 runs in Sri Lanka — across 28 innings in limited overs matches and Tests.
Virat Kohli’s first attempt to move things a bit ended up in his dismissal. He was caught by Kaushal Silva at short-leg, while trying a flick, in Tharindu Kaushal’s first over. It was yet another in a series of brilliant close-in catches this match saw. In the first hour India made 22 runs in 14 overs for the loss of three wickets.
The close-in fielders seemed like a bunch of scavenging vultures, not letting anything pass by. Dhawan was caught and bowled by a diving Kaushal trying to play against the turn; Wriddhiman Saha was stumped off a ball that climbed and beat him; and Harbhajan Singh — sent ahead of R. Ashwin, to banish the seeping pessimism — caught, yet again by Kaushal Silva at short leg. In tandem, the two spinners bowled 16 overs for 38 runs and picked up four wickets. India went into lunch at 78 for seven.
The way Kaushal was handled was indicative of Angelo Mathews’s smart captaincy. For all his wicket-taking skills, the 22-year-old is known to be wasteful. With a set Ajinkya Rahane at the crease, and not much to defend, Mathews had a sweeper-cover throughout — an area where the spinner leaked plenty of runs bowling fuller deliveries in the first innings. So much so that Rahane, with no width on offer, had to reverse sweep to get the ball squarer for runs.
Post-lunch, Ashwin was out caught by a diving Dhammika Prasad at mid-on. Then when Herath made Rahane edge to slip, with the score at 102, it was as good as over.
The last irritant was removed and the victory was had 10 runs later, setting the stage for a perfect Kumar Sangakkara farewell in Colombo.
