India digs its own grave

Never mind the result, this game is going to be remembered as the one in which Muthiah Muralitharan produced the off-spinner's answer to the Shane Warne ball of the century to take out Mike Gatting.

And just as Gatting had, on that Ashes-defining occasion, stood at the wicket bemused well after hearing the rattle of the stumps, so too here, Sadagopan Ramesh stood transfixed by an experience that will probably leave a scar for life.

When play began this morning, there were a couple of givens. One, India could not win -- and that kind of situation can generate its own pressure for batsmen who walk out there knowing that if they play as well as they ever have in their lives before, they will at best draw the game.

The other is that the pitch, while not entirely benign, had nothing in it for the seamers -- so the Indians had to have gone in knowing that how they cope with Muthiah Muralitharan held the key to the whole game. Murali turns it off glass -- but the comfort zone for the Indians would have been that on a fourth day track, he was not going to get the disconcerting bounce he did on day one.

Shiv Sundar Das appears to have taken it on himself to prove to his mates that the offie can be handled -- from the two flowing boundaries he struck off Murali as soon as he was introduced in the first hour of play, Das kept using his feet, very nicely, to negate the spinner.

The moment of truth for the opener was when he skipped a long way down the track to Murali, in his fourth over, in a fashion similar to the way he had come down in the first innings. On that occasion, Das had attempted an ungainly heave to leg and been bowled. This time, he got just that fraction inside the line and produced a stunning extra cover drive to the fence.

He did get an economy-sized slice of luck when earlier, in his second over, Murali drew him into a sweep. The ball grazed the bat, and ricocheted off the pad for Jayasuriya at a short midwicket to dive and hold. Umpire Ashoka De Silva, who has otherwise had an impressive, almost outstanding, series figured there was no touch, and gave it to the batsman.

For the rest of his stay -- which saw the dimunitive opener log his 7th Test half century -- Das played with an assurance that was characterised by the decision, and precision, of his footwork. He gets forward or back with no half measures, then plays the ball very late to permit him to make the minor adjustments that put his shots into the gaps.

Ramesh at the other end was content to let his partner have the bulk of the strike, while he himself focussed on working the singles and rotating. Together, the two registered the 100-run partnership -- some cause for celebration, given that the last time two Indian openers got the score to 100 overseas was in 1994, against New Zealand at Hamilton.

The partnership was looking increasingly assured, and Jayasuriya was going increasingly on the defensive, when the imminence of lunch produced a wicket against the run of play. Das, visibly playing for lunch, lunged defensively at a Murali off break that spun from edge onto pad. Tillekeratne, at silly point, reacted brilliantly to take a breathtaking catch, to end a rock-solid innings of 68 off 162 deliveries that included 11 fours. To get an idea of how Das dominated both the strike and the scoring, note that Ramesh at the time had faced only 95 deliveries, and scored 33.

Lunch was taken with India on 112/1 -- 31 overs in the morning session having produced 84 runs for the loss of Das.

The Lankan bowlers must have worked on their lines during the lunch break -- in the second session, they tightened things down consdierably, focussing on a very restrictive line and forcing the batsmen to throttle back and work very hard for their runs.

Sadagopan Ramesh has time and again got off to starts, got into the forties, and then lost the plot -- on each of those occasions, getting out just when he figured it was time to change gears. This time, he seemed grimly determined to hang on all day, if that is what it took for him to get a ball to hit.

That attitude got him to his half century. It also helped keep Murali at bay till his 23rd over. The offie, who rarely bowls an entire over round the wicket, finally decided he needed to try something new, and went around (over to the left hander). He then angled one very sharply across the left hander, landing it about eight inches outside leg stump on just back of a length. Ramesh covered the line, so he thought, with body and bat -- and then watched in stunned surprise as the ball ripped back off the track, spun right across him, flashed past the outside of the bat, and clipped off stump. Imagine a ball zigzagging across you, and you get a vague idea of what kept Ramesh rooted to the spot well after the Lankans had begun their celebrations.

The opener had made a compact, composed 55 off 168 deliveries. And if Das handled Murali with aggression, Ramesh stayed focussed on keeping the offie at bay -- 67 deliveries faced produced just 8 runs. India at the time were 147/2, still 229 runs in deficit.

Murali almost produced an encore off the very next ball, but Ganguly managed -- just about -- to get a defensive bat on it. The Indian skipper's first scoring shot, after 14 deliveries, was a lovely little dance down the wicket and a clean straight six off Muralitharan -- in the first innings, a similar attempt had ended in an LBW.

The second session overall was about attrition -- 56 runs came off 34 overs, at just around 1.6 per over for the loss of Ramesh.

Post tea, Dravid and Ganguly played themselves in, beginning with studied defense. They were just beginning to blossom -- as evidenced by some rapid strike rotation interspersed with a couple of flowing drives in a Dilhara Fernando over -- when the wicket went against the run of play. Dravid came onto the front foot to on-drive and ran with the shot. The rest was all Marvan Atapattu. Fielding at mid on, he took off with the shot, anticipating well, ran around it to get it on his right and hurled the stumps down direct with Dravid's bat on -- but not behind -- the line. For the second time in the game, Dravid was out on 36 -- having, in the process, gotten to his 4000 Test run mark, and India were 186/3 -- still 190 under the Lankan lead, the wicket falling in the 85th over.

Seven overs later, Mohammad Kaif was walking back, victim of cricketing manslaughter. During his short stay, it was pretty evident that his understanding -- in terms of running between wickets -- with skipper Ganguly -- was non-existent. In the 93rd over, Ganguly played one from Samaraweera out on the leg side, took off and called for the run. Kaif, who had to run to the danger end, accelerated into a full run -- and then Ganguly decided otherwise, and turned his back on his partner, cutting him loose and leaving him to die. Sangakkara whipped off his gloves, bounced a throw at the bowler, Samaraweera, who failed to gather the ball but was lucky to see it bounce off his hand and onto the stumps with Kaif short of his ground (India 196/4).

Hemang Badani joined Ganguly, and it looked like the two were looking to play out the remaining five overs that remained when Ganguly left -- pushing forward at Samaraweera, the Indian captain got one that landed just short of his bat, turned, took the edge and flew low to Jayawardene at slip. Ganguly gone for 30 off 103, India 210/5, and still 166 short of the Lankan lead. And as Ganguly walked back, it was probably with the knowledge that he was headed for his first series defeat after taking over as captain.

Sairaj Bahutule, the leading all-rounder in domestic cricket last season, got a promotion ahead of Samir Dighe. And Jayasuriya came to the party. The Lankans had decided not to take the second new ball -- and the decision seemed justified as the Lankan skipper produced a delivery with a lot of overspin, second ball to the newcomer. Bahutule stuck his pad out at the ball, and to his horror saw the ball climb off pad onto his armguard, and ricochet back onto his stumps. India 211/6, 165 still behind.

Lanka decided to ask for the optional extra half hour in an attempt to finish things off. India survived, and went in on 217/6, still 159 behind. The extended final session nailed it for them -- 65 overs, 105 runs, five wickets.

The formalities remain to be completed. But at the end, the image that remains is that of Muthiah Muralitharan. Just two wickets for 58 runs this time -- but one of those wickets was off a ball he'll remember forever, and except for half an hour in the morning and the last half hour of the day's play, his was the menacing presence at the crease that, bowling unchanged for 37 overs, kept Indian ambitions in check and ensured that the lineup buckled.

Detailed Scorecards
Ind 1st innings
SL 1st innings
Ind 2nd innings

Also read: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

India vs Sri Lanka: Complete coverage