In an attritional session of play, India's spinners kept at the Sri Lankan batsmen, who defied them until ten minutes before lunch, when Anil Kumble struck twice in an over to tilt the match India's way. The 37-run lead that India managed could prove crucial, given that Sri Lanka have to bat last.
Going into the day's play, Kumble hadn't yet taken a wicket in the series - although he had bowled better than the figures suggested. But just when Sri Lanka looked to gain the upper hand - not for the first time in the match - he came up with three wickets, two of them in the penultimate over before lunch. The double strike included the wicket of Mahela Jayawardene, who was slowly but surely taking Sri Lanka towards a first-innings lead. Harbhajan Singh didn't let the pressure up at the other end, finishing
It was a slow session of play, but just as intense as the ones before, and perhaps much more crucial. Almost every over - before Mahela started farming strike following two quick wickets - featured a loud shout, an edge that fell short, or a sharply spinning delivery that missed everything. Kumble and Harbhajan bowled 24 successive overs in tandem, and but for a three-over spell by Ishant Sharma in the final session yesterday, 68 overs between them in a row. Harbhajan took his unbroken spell to 37 overs, and after he was finally taken off, returned immediately to bowl from the other end.
The seventh over of the day was the first one devoid of any drama: by then both Jayawardenes had edged to just short of first slip; Harbhajan had decided not to opt for the review against Mahela when he looked adjacent on one delivery; Prasanna had survived a sharp chance at forward short leg, and he had also top-edged one to just short of fine leg. During that spell of play, Mahela got to the slowest half-century of the series, but went on to become a threatening presence before Kumble intervened.
Jayawardene was unaffected by the spinning ball, the variations, and all that happened around him. There were no free runs on offer; but he was cool enough to not try to hit himself out of the situation. He managed a total of five boundaries in the session - Malinda Warnapura had hit four in one over yesterday. And once Prasanna and Chaminda Vaas fell in consecutive overs, two things happened for Sri Lanka that haven't happened in tandem for India: Jayawardene farmed the strike adroitly, and Nuwan Kulasekara gave solid support to his captain, facing the few deliveries he needed to with aplomb. In sharp contrast, in the first Test, Laxman failed to rotate the strike; in the second, when Virender Sehwag did, he got zero support from the tail.
The only quarter Sri Lanka received from India came from the close-in fielding. Gambhir, who let a half-chance go yesterday, couldn't hold on to a similar offering from Prasanna early in the day. And when Jayawardene, anxious to shield Kulasekara, went for an unwise single off the last ball of the 79th over, Gambhir - at short square leg - failed to gather the ball off a slightly bad bounce.
In keeping with the narrative of the match so far, just when Sri Lanka seemed to have got themselves the upper hand, another turnaround followed. Jayawardene, 14 short of a deserved century, edged Kumble to Dinesh Karthik, and the game was back in the balance. Although Jayawardene and Kulasekara frustrated India for 17.1 overs, India had managed to keep the partnership down to 36 runs. Kumble and Harbhajan then proceeded to remove the next two - taking the last three wickets in seven balls - to get the lead, which on this pitch will surely be bigger than the number it consists of.
Going into the day's play, Kumble hadn't yet taken a wicket in the series - although he had bowled better than the figures suggested. But just when Sri Lanka looked to gain the upper hand - not for the first time in the match - he came up with three wickets, two of them in the penultimate over before lunch. The double strike included the wicket of Mahela Jayawardene, who was slowly but surely taking Sri Lanka towards a first-innings lead. Harbhajan Singh didn't let the pressure up at the other end, finishing
It was a slow session of play, but just as intense as the ones before, and perhaps much more crucial. Almost every over - before Mahela started farming strike following two quick wickets - featured a loud shout, an edge that fell short, or a sharply spinning delivery that missed everything. Kumble and Harbhajan bowled 24 successive overs in tandem, and but for a three-over spell by Ishant Sharma in the final session yesterday, 68 overs between them in a row. Harbhajan took his unbroken spell to 37 overs, and after he was finally taken off, returned immediately to bowl from the other end.
The seventh over of the day was the first one devoid of any drama: by then both Jayawardenes had edged to just short of first slip; Harbhajan had decided not to opt for the review against Mahela when he looked adjacent on one delivery; Prasanna had survived a sharp chance at forward short leg, and he had also top-edged one to just short of fine leg. During that spell of play, Mahela got to the slowest half-century of the series, but went on to become a threatening presence before Kumble intervened.
Jayawardene was unaffected by the spinning ball, the variations, and all that happened around him. There were no free runs on offer; but he was cool enough to not try to hit himself out of the situation. He managed a total of five boundaries in the session - Malinda Warnapura had hit four in one over yesterday. And once Prasanna and Chaminda Vaas fell in consecutive overs, two things happened for Sri Lanka that haven't happened in tandem for India: Jayawardene farmed the strike adroitly, and Nuwan Kulasekara gave solid support to his captain, facing the few deliveries he needed to with aplomb. In sharp contrast, in the first Test, Laxman failed to rotate the strike; in the second, when Virender Sehwag did, he got zero support from the tail.
The only quarter Sri Lanka received from India came from the close-in fielding. Gambhir, who let a half-chance go yesterday, couldn't hold on to a similar offering from Prasanna early in the day. And when Jayawardene, anxious to shield Kulasekara, went for an unwise single off the last ball of the 79th over, Gambhir - at short square leg - failed to gather the ball off a slightly bad bounce.
In keeping with the narrative of the match so far, just when Sri Lanka seemed to have got themselves the upper hand, another turnaround followed. Jayawardene, 14 short of a deserved century, edged Kumble to Dinesh Karthik, and the game was back in the balance. Although Jayawardene and Kulasekara frustrated India for 17.1 overs, India had managed to keep the partnership down to 36 runs. Kumble and Harbhajan then proceeded to remove the next two - taking the last three wickets in seven balls - to get the lead, which on this pitch will surely be bigger than the number it consists of.
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