Despite about 90 minutes of resistance by Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, Sri Lanka managed to keep India down to a manageable lead. It was Ajantha Mendis who broke the resistance, with Dravid's wicket half an hour before lunch, and only a cameo from Harbhajan Singh took the lead beyond 100. Laxman and Dravid lasted as long as they did thanks in no small measure to Sri Lanka's strategy: for much of the time they didn't employ conspicuously attacking fields, and gave away singles for free as they tried to prevent boundaries. As a result, despite the struggle, India's lead never reached threatening proportions.
Sri Lanka seemed in no hurry to rush to their first series win against India since 2001. They waited patiently, bowled in the right areas, and got the five Indian wickets without much damage. And when Harbhajan, who hit five boundaries in his 26, looked to be pushing India towards a sizeable lead, Chaminda Vaas, that epitome of discipline, struck in the first over he bowled since his three with the new ball.
The partnership between Laxman and Dravid gave India what little hope they had going into the fourth innings of the match. Coming out of their bad patches, they took the first steps towards what briefly seemed to be an incredible comeback, before they were stopped. Nonetheless it was the best partnership between two of the Fab Four in this series. The two looked comfortable reading the spinners, nudging and flicking for singles at ease, and capitalising on the field by rotating the strike. Laxman, who had Gautam Gambhir running for him, was visibly in pain, limping away to square leg when he got singles.
The day started with Dravid closing in on his first half-century of the series, which he brought up with a punched boundary off Mendis. He then settled down again, looking determined, as he played the most confident innings by an Indian middle-order batsman in the series.
Laxman at the other end received plenty of favours from Sri Lanka. When he was on 35, he edged Muttiah Muralitharan, but there was no slip. The field at that time had no slip and no silly point, and had a short mid-on, a short midwicket, a short square leg, and a backward square leg. In Murali's next over, Laxman was dropped by Thilan Samaraweera at short mid-on, and once more by Malinda Warnapura at forward short leg, after he had got to his first half-century of the series.
In between those drops and missed chances, Laxman hit Dammika Prasad for two delightful boundaries, but those were just about the only quick runs India got from Sri Lanka, who stuck to their plan of not letting India run away with the game, testing their patience and resolve, knowing the wicket-taking delivery would come.
Come it did, courtesy Mendis, who, bowling from round the stumps, drew Dravid forward and got the ball to move enough to take the edge. Then Murali, who had started from over the stumps, moved back round, and got Kumble lbw with an accurate offbreak.
Vaas then registered his presence with a classical left-armer's dismissal, the ball swinging in and trapping Harbhajan plumb in front. Zaheer Khan chose to run on a misfield at short mid-off, and paid the price. Ishant Sharma, nursing a buttock injury, came out with a runner, making it four Indian batsmen in the centre, but there were no mix-ups, as Ishant soon played Murali straight to the fielder at leg gully.
Sri Lanka seemed in no hurry to rush to their first series win against India since 2001. They waited patiently, bowled in the right areas, and got the five Indian wickets without much damage. And when Harbhajan, who hit five boundaries in his 26, looked to be pushing India towards a sizeable lead, Chaminda Vaas, that epitome of discipline, struck in the first over he bowled since his three with the new ball.
The partnership between Laxman and Dravid gave India what little hope they had going into the fourth innings of the match. Coming out of their bad patches, they took the first steps towards what briefly seemed to be an incredible comeback, before they were stopped. Nonetheless it was the best partnership between two of the Fab Four in this series. The two looked comfortable reading the spinners, nudging and flicking for singles at ease, and capitalising on the field by rotating the strike. Laxman, who had Gautam Gambhir running for him, was visibly in pain, limping away to square leg when he got singles.
The day started with Dravid closing in on his first half-century of the series, which he brought up with a punched boundary off Mendis. He then settled down again, looking determined, as he played the most confident innings by an Indian middle-order batsman in the series.
Laxman at the other end received plenty of favours from Sri Lanka. When he was on 35, he edged Muttiah Muralitharan, but there was no slip. The field at that time had no slip and no silly point, and had a short mid-on, a short midwicket, a short square leg, and a backward square leg. In Murali's next over, Laxman was dropped by Thilan Samaraweera at short mid-on, and once more by Malinda Warnapura at forward short leg, after he had got to his first half-century of the series.
In between those drops and missed chances, Laxman hit Dammika Prasad for two delightful boundaries, but those were just about the only quick runs India got from Sri Lanka, who stuck to their plan of not letting India run away with the game, testing their patience and resolve, knowing the wicket-taking delivery would come.
Come it did, courtesy Mendis, who, bowling from round the stumps, drew Dravid forward and got the ball to move enough to take the edge. Then Murali, who had started from over the stumps, moved back round, and got Kumble lbw with an accurate offbreak.
Vaas then registered his presence with a classical left-armer's dismissal, the ball swinging in and trapping Harbhajan plumb in front. Zaheer Khan chose to run on a misfield at short mid-off, and paid the price. Ishant Sharma, nursing a buttock injury, came out with a runner, making it four Indian batsmen in the centre, but there were no mix-ups, as Ishant soon played Murali straight to the fielder at leg gully.
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