India collapse after Sehwag century

Virender Sehwag blasted a quickfire, unbeaten 128 as India squandered a flying start, losing four wickets in 20 balls, on a rain-truncated opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle on Thursday.
The flamboyant Sehwag notched his 15th Test century, but India, who were cruising along comfortably at 167 for no loss, lost four wickets in quick succession before being reduced to 214 for 4 when play was called off early because of bad light.

The complexion of the game changed abruptly after play resumed following a rain interruption, as paceman Chaminda Vaas and 'mystery' spinner Ajantha Mendis ripped through the top order to help the islanders claw back brilliantly.
While Sehwag played with characteristic flair, the quick dismissals of opener Gautam Gambhir (56), Rahul Dravid (2), Sachin Tendulkar (5) and Sourav Ganguly (0) dented India's hopes of posting a big first innings total on what appeared to be a good batting strip at the Galle International stadium.
The stylish VVS Laxman (13) was giving Sehwag company at stumps. Only 44.3 overs were bowled during the day.

The visitors, who desperately need to win the match to keep themselves afloat in the three-match series, have to now bank on the last recognised pair of Sehwag and Laxman to put up a decent total.
The Indians showed signs of making amends for their Colombo debacle in the pre-lunch session as Sehwag and Gambhir plundered runs at will to score 151.
Play was held up after the lunch break because of rain, and when it resumed, the balance tilted in favour of the home team, which exploited the overcast conditions well.

The dismissal of Gambhir started the slide. The Delhi batsman was trapped leg before by Mendis. Gambhir asked for a review but it did not change his luck as the television umpire upheld the on-field umpire's decision.
Rahul Dravid, who has been struggling to find his form, again fell prey to Mendis. He failed to keep the ball on the ground and Malinda Warnapura took the catch at short leg much to the delight of his teammates.
The hosts then scalped the prized wicket of Tendulkar, who was trapped leg before by Vaas.

Sourav Ganguly did not trouble the scorers much as edged an away swinger from Vaas to Prasanna Jayawardene behind the wicket. India were reduced to a precarious 178 for four.
Sehwag and Laxman ensured that there were no further setbacks for the tourists as they took the team beyond the 200 mark.

It was a stunning exhibition of stroke-play by Sehwag, who unleashed 19 boundaries and two sixes during his unfinished knock, unaffected by wickets tumbling around him.
The way India began, it looked an altogether different ball game after the humiliating innings defeat in the first Test in Colombo. Both Sehwag and Gambhir negotiated the twin-threat of Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan confidently.

Sehwag survived a third umpire review before shaping his innings with elegance as well as aggression, albeit controlled.
Gambhir got a life when he was on 13 and ensured the he cashed in on the chance to deny Sri Lanka further opportunity.
He took 92 balls to raise his fourth Test fifty while Sehwag was in prime form, needing just 87 balls to complete his 15th Test century.
Even the magical Muralitharan was rendered ordinary as Sehwag scored boundaries off the spinner quite freely.

Earlier, Nuwan Kulasekara tested both the Indian openers with his pace, bounce, good line and length, deceiving them a number of times in his opening spell.
However, the paceman was unlucky as Sehwag and Gambhir missed the edge on many occasions and the deliveries that got the edge either did not carry or dropped in front of the fielders.
Gambhir went for a flashy shot outside the off-stump and got thin edge towards first slip, but Kumar Sangakkara could not hold on to the chance as wicketkeeper Prasnna Jayawardene blocked his view as he dived across for the catch.

Source:rediff

Can India stop Murali and Mendis?

Spinners Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis bowled Sri Lanka to an innings and 239-run victory in the first Test against India on Saturday.
While the Lankans registered their biggest Test win on home soil, the defeat was India's worst against the hosts.
Muralitharan and Mendis destroyed the famed Indian batting line-up on a dry spinning pitch, bowling the side out for 223 in the morning and then 138, in just 45 overs, in the second innings after Sri Lanka forced the follow-on with India trailing by 377 runs.
Muralitharan snared five for 84 from 29 overs in the first innings and then claimed a further six for 26 from 13 overs in the second innings.

Mendis, an unorthodox finger spinner, claimed four for 72 from 27.5 overs in the first innings and another four for 60 in the second innings to finish with eight for 132 on his Test debut.
In sum, the Indians were done in by the lethal combination of two spinners-- one experienced and the other playing only his first Test-- after the Sri Lanka batsmen-- four of whom got centuries -- feasted on the Indian bowling and rattled up 600 runs.

With the second Test coming up on Thursday, July 31, the Indians will have to come up with something extraordinary in bowling and batting to salvage some pride.
Tell us what India needs to do to tackle Murali and Mendis. What should our bowlers do to check the Sri Lankan run-machine?

Sri Lanka thrash India in first Test

A spineless India slumped to their third heaviest Test defeat as Sri Lanka clinched the first Test by an innings and 239 runs with the spin combination of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis plotting the visitors' downfall in Colombo on Saturday.
After enforcing the follow-on, Muralitharan (6 for 26) and Mendis (4 for 60) tore through the Indian batting order to bundle out the visitors for a paltry 138 to record Sri Lanka's biggest victory at home with a day to spare, which also gave them a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
It was an abject surrender by the tourists who were dismissed for 223 in the first innings and then capitulated in an even more shocking manner in the second essay.

Only opener Gautam Gambhir (43) provided a semblance of resistance but none of the other batsmen could counter Muralitharan and Mendis who mesmerised the opposition with their guile and variety at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground.
Although the SSC track had not deteriorated too much, the Indians showed a complete lack of application with their second innings lasting barely 45 overs.

The two teams will now travel to Galle for the second Test which gets underway from July 31.
The experienced Indian batting line-up seemed to have no clue to the spinners as Virender Sehwag (13), V V S Laxman (21), Sachin Tendulkar (12), Rahul Dravid (10) and Sourav Ganguly (4) perished in quick succession to shatter any hopes of a fightback.

The ICC's experimental rule of allowing teams to review umpire's decision also came handy for the home team as Sehwag, Tendulkar and Dravid, who were initially given not out by the field-umpire, were adjudged out after viewing television replays.
Resuming their first innings at 159 for six, India required an extraordinary display of batting from skipper Anil Kumble and Laxman to avoid the follow on.
However, nothing worked as Muralitharan (5/84 )and Mendis (4/72) continued toying with the Indian batting and wrapped up the innings in the first session itself.
Laxman fought well for his 56 runs before becoming the fourth victim of mystery spinner Mendis.

Before being bowled by Mendis, Laxman and Ishant Sharma (13)did their best to delay the inevitable with a dogged 35-run partnership for the last wicket.
After enforcing the follow on, Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene opted to deploy a spin and pace combination to unsettle the jittery Indian batsmen though Gambhir and Tendulkar tried to hold their nerves.
Laxman too begun on a confident note and hammered three boundaries in his brief stay of 21.
The reintroduction of Mendis spelt disaster for India, and he broke the 28-run partnership between Gambhir and Laxman.

The southpaw combined with former captain Rahul Dravid and the duo scampered for ones and twos while trying to negotiate Muralitharan and Mendis.
The dismissal of Gambhir spelt India's doom when he was brilliantly stumped by Prasanna Jayawardene of Murali after a solid knock of 43.
Dravid was the last to go before tea caught by Warnapura of Mendis for 10. The right-hander was adjudged not out by the field umpires but the Lankans sought a referral and the third umpire ruled the Indian veteran out.

Earlier, Ganguly was caught by Tillakaratne Dilshan off Muralitharan for 4.
Tendulkar edged a Muttiah Muralitharan delivery down the leg side but the on-field umpire ruled in favour of the batsmen. The hosts then referred the decision to the third umpire, who declared the Indian out cutting short his innings at 12.
This was India's third heaviest Test defeat. Earlier, West Indies beat India by an innings and 336 runs at Kolkata in 1958, while England thumped them by an innings and 285 runs at Lord's in 1974.

Source:rediff

Sri Lanka in command after India's batsmen flop show!!

India were staring at a possible follow-on after their famed batting line-up collapsed against Muthiah Muralitharan. The spin wizard's sensational four-wicket haul put Sri Lanka firmly in command at the end of Day 3 in the first Test, in Colombo, on Friday.

Weighed down by Sri Lanka's mammoth first innings total of 600 for 6, India found themselves in total disarray because of spineless batting that left them gasping at a precarious 159 for 6 when play was called off a little early because of bad light.

The visitors still need 242 runs to avoid the ignominy of a follow-on and will have to bat out of their skins to save the game at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground, where the track has started showing signs of a gradual deterioration.

The seasoned V V S Laxman (19) and captain Anil Kumble (1) were at the crease at stumps.
With Virender Sehwag (25), Gautam Gambhir (39), Rahul Dravid (14), Sachin Tendulkar (27), Sourav Ganguly (23) and Dinesh Karthik (9) back in the pavilion, much will depend on the experienced Laxman to get India, still 441 runs behind, out of the woods.

Muralitharan accounted for four of those wickets -- Gambhir, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Karthik -- conceding 38 runs, while 'mystery' bowler Ajantha Mendis produced a gem of a delivery to get rid of Dravid..
Earlier in the day, Tillakaratne Dilshan (125 not out) became the fourth player to hit a century in Sri Lanaka's first innings.

It turned out to be another agonising day for the visitors who first allowed the hosts to pile up an imposing total and then lacked application while batting.
The 23-year-old Mendis, who created a flutter with his exploits in the Asia Cup, continued to bamboozle the Indian batsmen with his variations.
The Sri Lankans declared their first innings 40 minutes into the second session and the two Indian openers, Sehwag and Gambhir, got off to a flying start. However, their belligerence was shortlived.

Sehwag made his intentions clear as he slammed paceman Chaminda Vaas to the cover boundary in the first over. Gambhir followed it with a flowing drive to the long-off boundary off Nuwan Kulasekara in the next.
Jayawardene chose to set an attacking field to put the Indian batsmen under pressure after tiring them out on the field for over two-and-a-half days.
Taking advantage of unmanned boundaries, Sehwag went on to hammer Vaas for two consecutive fours, one through mid-on and then point.

But Nuwan Kulasekara provided the breakthrough for the islanders by getting rid of Sehwag, whose pulled shot went straight to Samaraweera in the square leg region.
Muralitharan then consolidated the position, dismissing Gambhir, while Mendis foxed Dravid with a vicious delivery to dislodge his off-stump. The Indians were reduced to a precarious 79 for 3. Tendulkar and Ganguly tried to rebuild the innings before Murali again struck by scalping the prized wicket of Tendulkar, who looked quite comfortable during his brief stay at the crease.
Ganguly was the next to return to the pavilion, he too falling prey to Muralitharan, Kulasekara taking a well-judged catch.

Tottering at 138 for five, Dinesh Karthik, who dropped two catches during the Sri Lankan innings, played an irresponsible shot and became Murali's fourth victim.
Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of 422 for four, the hosts continued to pile up the misery and Dilshan notched his fifth Test ton.
India scalped two wickets in an otherwise frustrating opening session, one of them being centurion Thilan Samaraweera (127), who handed a straight forward catch to Laxman at second slip off Zaheer Khan .

Wicketkeeper Prasana Jayawardene was the next to go, trying to smack Harbhajan but holing out to Ishant Sharma at extra cover. He scored 30 runs.
India could have got Dilshan early on when the right-hander failed to keep the ball down and it went past a diving Laxman in second slip.
But for that, the 32-year-old was always well in command en route to his century.

Warnapura lights up gloomy opening day

India captured two early wickets before opener Malinda Warnapura lit up a rain-truncated opening day with a sparkling unbeaten half century to guide Sri Lanka to 85 for 2 wickets in the first cricket Test in Colombo on Wednesday.
The left-handed Warnapura was unbeaten on 50, his third Test half century, as the hosts played cautiously to share the day's honours.

Only 22 overs were possible as play started nearly four hours late due to rain and soggy ground conditions at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground.
Electing to bat, the hosts lost opener Michael Vandort (3) and Kumar Sangakkara (12) cheaply, but Warnapura held the innings together with a solid effort.
Captain Mahela Jayawardene (16 not out) was giving Warnapura company when play was called off early because of bad light.

The Indians, seeking to achieve the rare feat of winning a series against the islanders in their own bacikyard, fired the first salvo when the lanky Ishant Sharma got rid of Vandort with a rising delivery.
The left-handed Vadort went on the front foot but only edged the outgoing delivery to Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps, much to the delight of his teammates. Sri Lanka were 7 for 1.
Zaheer Khan then struck, dismissing Sangakkara with a gem of a delivery that saw Rahul Dravid taking a smart catch at first slip.

After Vandort's dismissal, Warnapura went on the offensive, hammering Ishant for three boundaries in one over. He first whipped the ball to the third man region, then to long-off and the next through fine leg.
Sangakkara looked a bit subdued and played second fiddle to the young Warnapura. He struck a boundary through deep mid-on off Zaheer to break the shackles but perished soon after.
Captain Mahela Jayawardene, who joined the action after Sangakkara returned to the pavilion, began confidently and soon settled down by driving a Sourav Ganguly delivery to the cover boundary.

India captain Anil Kumble persisted with the pace bowlers, taking advantage of the overcast conditions and introduced Ganguly to give Ishant a break.
Zaheer, who is back after a lay-off due to injuries, worked up a fair bit of pace but experienced no-ball problems, bowling three in his first spell.

He was replaced by Ishant from the press box end. Ishant, who troubled the batsmen, gave away just 20 runs off five overs in his first spell.
Warnapura was lucky not to have got an edge off Ishant on a couple of occasions.
It was at the fag end of the day that Kumble brought on off-spinner Harbhajan Singh but he could not make much of an impression in the only over he bowled, giving away seven runs.
Warnapura slammed six boundaries during his unbeaten knock, which came in 107 minutes and off 74 balls.

Source:rediff

Spin guru Jenner points out chink in Mendis' armour

Ajantha Mendis might have created flutter in cricketing circles with his stupendous performance in the Asia Cup, but the Sri Lankan mystery bowler has failed to impress spin guru Terry Jenner, who has pointed out at chinks in his armour.

Jenner, who is credited with grooming Australian spin legend Shane Warne , is surprised to learn that the freaky Sri Lankan spinner does not have a stock ball in his kitty.

"Mendis needs to develop the stock ball which is very essential for leg break bowlers. When I heard that he doesn't have stock ball, I was amazed," said the Australian great, who is in New Delhi to oversee a bowlers' camp.

"World's best spinners have great stock ball. Murali [Muttiah Muralitharan] was one of them. As a coach, we need to teach basics not magic deliveries," he added.
Jenner feels Mendis lacks variety and still has a long way to go to prove his mettle in the international circuit.

"What he is doing has been done before by bowlers like John Gleeson. He is a good bowler but I am doubtful about his success in Australian and South African pitches. He does not have variety in his bowling," Jenner said.

"His carrom ball is not unique, what is unique is his pace. His sudden rise in popularity is because of the fact that most of the world's best spinners have either finished their career or in the twilight of their career.

"In Mendis, people are trying to find out Warne, [Anil] Kumble, Muralitharan but by doing so they are putting too much pressure on him," Jenner said.
Jenner said young Indian spinner Piyush Chawla has a great potential to be the "next best thing in the world of spin" if he develops leg-break.

"Don't write off Chawla. He can be the next best thing in the world of spin bowling but the same issue, he too lacks variety. His wrong ones are very deceptive but he can't bowl two to three wrong ones in an over in Test cricket," he asserted.

"He [Chawla] needs to develop his leg break to be successful in Test cricket."
The Australian also said India Test skipper Kumble has come of age since he first met him in 2003.

"He [Kumble] has done really well in the last couple of years. There's a lot of difference between now and when I met him first in 2003. That time, his job was to contain batsmen, but now he is bowling with the aim of picking wickets.

"I had advised him to change the sequence of his deliveries as he has only three to four balls in his armour and it helped him a lot.

"Both Warne and Kumble's heart are bigger than their bodies."

My bowling is a gift of God: Mendis

After wrecking the famed Indian batting line-up in the Asia Cup final, Sri Lanka's new spin sensation Ajantha Mendis now harbours dream of scalping the prize wicket of master blaster Sachin Tendulkar in the upcoming three-match Test series starting July 23.

Mendis created ripples during the Asia Cup in Pakistan early this month with his 'carrom ball' delivery, picking up 17 wickets in the continental tournament.

He single-handedly won the trophy for Sri Lanka by pocketing six Indian wickets in the final.
"It will be dream come true for me to get the wicket of Tendulkar, especially when he is on the threshold of surpassing Brian Lara'a world record of highest Test runs," said Mendis.
Tendulkar, who has 11782 runs from 147 Tests so far, is just 171 short of equaling the West Indian legend's 11953 runs.

Mendis, a Sri Lankan army officer, said that he is pumped up to show his potential against the famous batting quartet of Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, who were not there in India's Asia Cup squad.

"Laxman, Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly are among the best batsmen in the world and I am eagerly looking forward to bowl against them.

"I will be happy to get the scalps of many other Indian batsmen," he said.
The young bowler also revealed that apart from the 'carrom ball', he has developed a new delivery to unsettle the Indians.

However, when asked to elaborate on his new delivery, he said, "Come and see for yourself in the match."
"I will continue with the same tactics in Tests which I employed in ODIs. I don't intend to change much.
"My bowling is a gift of God. I am also grateful to my school coach from whom I learnt immensely."

Asked whether he would be bowling long spells in the upcoming Test series, he said, "It is up to the captain to decide whether to give me long spells or not, but if given I am prepared to bowl."
On being compared in the cricketing circles with spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan, Mendis said he has still long way to go to fill in the veteran's shoe.

"Muralitharan is my idol and it is a privilege for me to bowl alongside him. He has been advising me continuously and told me to approach him any time for suggestions."

Source:rediff