Running diary - Day 1: Dravid shows the way yet again
Running diary - Day 2: Running diary - Day 2: Dilshan to the forefront
Day 3
The third day of a Test is often called the pivotal day for more reasons than one. The game is interestingly poised, leaning slightly in Sri Lanka's favor as they have 7 wickets in hand and are 150 runs behind. Should they get a lead it will give them an advantage and put pressure on the Indians to think about saving the Test before harboring hopes of winning it.
10:00pm: The conundrum facing Dhoni is that there are still about 10 overs to go before the new ball is due, so he cannot start with his pacers first up. But the best time to strike for wickets in in the first hour. The ghosts of the past come back to haunt India. If they had pushed through the over rate yesterday, they could have taken the new ball sooner today.
10:22pm: Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra open the proceedings to start the day. Harbhajan looks different in a white patka. Unique and eye-catching. He should do this more often. There is turn, but it is not a sharp one, and the bounce is a bit low. The problem for the spinners is that if they fire it in fast, it will not spin as much but if they loop it up the batsman has more than enough time to step forward or move back and play it away.
10:33pm: India has slipped into a pray-for-the-new-ball mode. Thilan Samaraweera punches through the cover region and brings up his 50. This man is in impressive form and looks good for the long haul. Not to be outdone, Mahela Jayawardene takes advantage and hits a sweet cut shot to bring up his 50. Well played, sirs.
10:42pm: Finally, the Indians perk up. The new ball is taken and Ishant Sharma begins. In the end, just a steady over. He's been on the field for a while now. I wish he could have fired up right away but it is not to be.
10:46pm: Oh no! If Ishant looked undercooked, Zaheer Khan looks positively statuesque. The first ball is a full toss and Samaraweera says I can do a Dravid and flick-drives it for four. Zaheer comes back with a ZAK special off the last ball. Maybe now he is getting into a rhythm. Sheesh.
10:52pm: Ishant Sharma is bowling with a leg-slip. A wise move, I think, since his stock ball is the incoming cutter and a flick should go there. The only thing is that the fielder is Sehwag, not the quickest of movers there. Aaargh! Jayawardene flicks between the keeper and leg slip. Is he standing too wide? Yes he is, as another ball goes between the two, for legbyes this time. At least there is some hope in that spot yet.
10:54pm: By the way, the 100 partnership for the duo came up a few over ago. Their best is a monumental 437 earlier this year in Karachi. Oh dear.
10:56pm: I have been remiss in my duties today on two fronts. Let me make up for it.
Sri Lanka 323 for 3 in 83 overs, Jayawardene 61, Samaraweera 62.
Obligatory Non-SRT Milestone watch: Jayawardene needs another 106 runs to get to 1,000 runs in 2009.
Obligatory Non-SRT Milestone watch: Samaraweera needs another 146 runs to get to 4,000 Test runs.
11:02pm: Ishant Sharma is getting some sharp incutters going but the bounce is not disarming enough to trouble the batsmen. At this point in time, it appears only a mistake by the two will fetch India a wicket. Sri Lanka 328 for 3, trailing by 98 runs. Jayawardene 61, Samaraweera 67.
At their current rate, Sri Lanka will cross the Indian score in about 25 overs from now. And considering how the Indians are barely faster than tortoises when it comes to getting through their overs, that point in time is projected to come about sometime after lunch on the 5th day of this Test match. I am only half-joking, by the way.
Amit Mishra and Harbhajan are within a boundary of scoring a century. I can't help feeling a ittle frustrated over the way Harbhajan just threw his wicket away yesterday.
11:05pm: ZAK begins with a beauty, beating Samaraweera with a ball that cuts away from him. ZAK continues with the good balls, nailing Samaraweera in the midriff with a fast-rising ball. Now he comes round the wicket. Samaraweera counters by walking across the stumps and playing the ball outside the off-stump. 16 overs, 55 runs so far in the day's play. Advantage Sri Lanka, big time. Steve Waugh is in danger of turning into a bobblehead doll as his win-toss-bowl-first strategy is being vindicated by a classic performance by the Sri Lankan batsmen.
Would you believe it, the ball is probably going to be be changed now. Nope, that effort of the Indians goes in vain. You can bet they will try it again soon, searching for that ball that swings more than the others. This is a fairly common ploy these days.
11:15pm: Dravid is now fielding at mid-on. And that is because Yuvraj is fielding at square-leg. Ishant Sharma bowls one short and Samraweera pulls and Yuvraj pulls off a sharp chance moving to his right, near the square-leg umpire. Samaraweera throws it away and the crowd wakes up! Sri Lanka 332 for 4, Samaraweera out for 70, Jayawardene batting on 61.
11:19pm: The equation has changed again, for a few moments at least, while Matthews settles down. Mahela has to be careful about giving it back in a double blow. ZAK still operating round the wicket.
Obligatory Non-SRT Milestone watch: How new is Angelo Matthews to the cricketing arena? The best milestone I can find is that he is 98 sixes away from reaching 100 sixes for his career. Weak? Okay, he needs 20 runs to reach 250 Test runs. Weaker? Well...his numbers are not in the SRT league to be throwing up milestones easily, what can I say?
11:25am: Dhoni keeps two fielders by the square-leg umpire. Smart, very smart. I wonder why more captains don't employ this field to Asian batsmen who get so many of their runs there.
Angelo Matthews does average 55 in his first-class career with 8 centuries and 10 fifties in just 52 innings. Formerly the captain of the Under-19 team, he has clearly been earmarked for future greatness by the Sri Lankan board.
Russell Arnold must be reading my blog, as he rattles off the previous paragraph to the viewers even as I finish typing that it. Spooky!
11:30pm: ZAK goes over the wicket to Jayawardene and promptly gives up two fours, one a straight drive and the other a flick-drive. He is motoring along again now after slowing down when the wicket fell. He ends the over with the best shot of the morning, a cover drive. There are cover drives and then there are cover drives. This was the latter. Jayawardene marches to 74, Sri Lanka 348 for 4 in 90 overs. Matthews is on 3.
Mohammad Yousuf or Yasir Hameed would have proudly owned up to that cover drive.
Matthews looks solid so far, meeting the ball with the bat in front of the body and not playing away from it. Ishant will need something special to get through him. I hope ZAK can hold on for another over or two and get to bowl to Matthews. Matthews takes a single with 2 balls to go and here's the chance for the Indians to keep Mahela at the non-striker's end for the next over. Nope, the last ball comes in but Mahela slices it to third man and keeps the strike. Over gaaji, as my Chennai friends would say. Somewhere, Boycott and his mom nod sagely in appreciation.
11:37pm. That spells the end for ZAK. Dhoni turns to his first-choice spinner...nope he turns to Yuvraj Singh. If he is looking to bowl part-timers he should go to Sehwag. I'd have said SRT, but the 20-year veteran seems to have given up bowling these days.
Russell Arnold repeats the myth about Yuvraj being a partnership-breaker. I dispelled this myth yesterday, and I shall not do it again now.
Matthews is greeted by just one slip and a forward short-leg. Come on, Dhoni, put some pressure on the kid and place a few fielders in his eyeline, remind him that he hasn't settled in yet, that lunch is fast approaching, and that Sri Lanka cannot afford for him to make a mistake. Come on, please!
351 for 4 for Sri Lanka in 92 overs, Jayawardene on 76, Matthews on 4.
11:42pm: Jayawardene takes a sharp single, and is rewarded with bonus runs. With the overthrows, he gets 5 runs. The rest of the over goes by uneventfully.
11:48pm: With just 12 minutes to go for lunch, I'd like to see Dhoni attack with his two frontline spinners and a packed, attacking field.
Ravi Shastri has about 10 stock phrases that he recycles and uses in different sequences, no matter what the state of the match is. I bet he has stopped coming to work and just dials in his commentary by texting in the # and the audio guy plays that relevant soundbite.
359 for 4 in 94 overs. Jayawardene on 82, Matthews on 6. Harbhajan on to bowl now. He looks sooooo different in his white patka. Nice field for him: leg slip, forward short-leg, slip, deep square-leg, deep fine-leg and long-on and he is bowling round the wicket to Mahela. First ball is outside the off-stump and a single to gully. Intentional, I think. Yes, it is, as a silly point now comes into the picture, too.
Come on Angelo, show us you can step out and loft the guy. Harbhajan just does not get it, does he? After all that, the ball is on the leg-stump and easily flicked away for a single. Aargh! Pragyan Ojha is India's best spinner and it is a travesty that Harbhajan is automatically considered to be the first option. I know he did well in New Zealand but he has been soooooo disappointing when they have needed him to step up to the plate.
11:55pm: Mishra in to Matthews now, with two slips and a forward short-leg. Matthews steps out and lofts a no-ball (!) over long-on for a 6. Now he bowls a short-pitched ball that is smashed away to the vacant mid-wicket area for a boundary. 374 for 4, Matthews 17, Jayawardene is on 85. They trail India by just 52 runs. India was 379 for 5 at one point on day 1. A day and a half later, Sri Lanka nears that mark. Somehow, it seems unlikely that they will throw away the advantage like India did. (Welegadara had a lot to do with it, yes, but it does not look like the Indians are bowling anywhere close to as well as he did).
12:00am: At the stroke of lunch Harbhajan gets Matthews to edge the ball to forward short-leg. No proper replays yet, but I think it was NOT OUT. Let's see. 375 for 5, Jayawardene 85, Jayawardene 0. Similar situation to India on Day 1 now.
Lunch is taken at the fall of the wicket. No replays to look at as I am getting an interview with Imran Nazir on one channel, South Africa versus England highlights on the Sky Sports channel, and Shastri and co talk to the studio from the ground on Channel 3 - Neo Sports.
I am going to take a break and read the book that I did not get a chance to continue yesterday (The Beekeper's Apprentice).
12:42am: Harbhajan finishes his over, no further damage done to Sri Lanka but the spread field (in-out field) gifts away a couple of easy singles.
(Editor's insert: The TV folks did not show too many replays of Matthews' dismissal, but the couple they did show suggested that the bat was not involved.)
12:43am: Amit Mishra continues and is promptly smashed away by Mahela for four to cover to get into the 90's now. Mishra gets two balls to spin a good two feet now. Interesting. Predictably the next ball is a googly and Mahela leans forward and drops it to gully for a single. Prasanna at the crease now. Googly first up, and he gets two to deep midwicket. I think it is time for ZAk to bowl at one end for two or three overs.
Sri Lanka 384 for 5 in 98 overs. Jayawardene on 92, and Jayawardene on 3. Harbhajan continues from the other end with his in-out field. And the ball is hit through the two close-in leg-side fielders for an easy single. Prasanna looks full of intent and has been taking on the spinners and sweeping and flicking them easily. Sri Lanka is now just 37 runs away from India.
It has been just three overs since lunch but already Prasanna is surrounded by only two close-in fielders. Ironically, Mahela is surrounded by three close-in fielders. Maybe they are trying to prey on the fact that he is near a milestone. First ball of the next over is cut for a four and that moves him to 99, on the verge of joining Dravid at 27 centuries in Tests. And he gets to it in 152 balls. Well deserved and well played. Dangerous signs for India.
Right on cue,
Obligatory Non-SRT Milestone watch: Prasanna Jayawardene needs 133 runs to get to 6,000 first class runs.
Random factoid: Jayawardene has 76 stumpings in first-class 168 matches.
12:54am: Prasanna is being given an easy single by Harbhajan each time, with a leg-stump line. This is frustrating to watch. Harbhajan is just going through the motions here. No excitement or enthusiasm at all. I am not his biggest fan, I admit, but this is deplorable. Send him to deep midwicket and give the ball to Sehwag, I say.
12:58am: Amit Mishra is also being read very easily by Prasanna. Prasanna keeps to Murali and Mendis. Reading Mishra is like picking up the morning newspaper for him. Sri Lanka 402 for 5 in 102 overs, Prasanna 12, Mahela 101.
Dhoni keeps saying, "Nice bowling, Bajj." I don't see what's nice about it really. India is waiting for mistakes now, giving up all pretense of trying to take wickets, except for one unorthodox catcher 2/3rds of the way to the square-leg fence, waiting for the top edged sweep.
ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK. ZAK.
I hope I have made it clear who I want bowling right now. The spinners are not doing anything to inspire confidence. But Mishra continues. A full toss outside the off-stump and a dive by Yuvraj saves it from crashing to the midwicket fence. The best thing about that was that Yuvraj dove for the ball. Now, there's just one close-in fielder - Dravid at slip. Flicked away to square leg and another run is ambled in by the batsmen. Insipid and uninspiring stuff from both spinners. 411 for 5 in 104 overs, 15 runs behind India. Mahela is on 104 and Prasanna on 18.
Economy Singh continues. Bowling over the wicket now. Obligatory flick to square-leg coming up in 1...2...3 balls *sigh* and now another flick on ball 5. Economy probably pats himself on the back for giving away just 2 runs in that over.
1:12am: ZAK IS BACK! Okay. Let's see what he can do now. Round the wicket, a slip and gully nearby. Prasanna flicks his away for a four to fine-leg. Okay, first bad ball in a while for him. Mulligan. Played away calmly for the rest of the over. Nothing to suggest yet that even he may do something. At least he looks like he wants to be there, unlike Mishra who looks more disconsolate with each passing over.
1:18am: Economy Singh continues with 3 guys on the boundary on the leg-side and a deep point. I mean, this is a field for a part-time bowler who cannot control the ball. I want Sehwag to replace Economy now. The next Test is in Mohali so Economy is sure to play that one, though based on current display he does not deserve to.
Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag. Sehwag.
1:22am: Dravid is talking to ZAK. ZAK continues round the wicket to Mahela. Sri Lanka is one stroke away from taking the lead. Impressive batting display this. A no-ball is pushed away for a couple and the scores are tied. Another no-ball sends Sri Lanka into the lead. 14 no-balls by India in this innings. And it is not just the fast bowlers who have contributed to it - Mishra has 5 of his own.
No hint of any movement whatsoever from ZAK. My call is not looking like it will pan out. Still, he is bowling better than the spinners and I would continue him for another two overs at least. Meanwhile, just to get the crowd active again, I would like to see Sehwag (or Tendulkar) bowling. "Gots to tries somethings," as Gollum would say. 428 for 5 in 108 overs, Prasanna 26, Mahela 111.
Yardley starts again, imploring the batsmen to "get on with it". The last time he said this, Economy Singh heard him and reverse-swept away any initiative that India had. I think Sri Lanka is doing it just fine, three-four singles an over without any risks. At this rate, with about 52 overs left in the day (more like 50), they can have a lead of 150-175 by the end of the day's play without risking anything. Extend it further tomorrow morning and put pressure on the Indians to bat out 5 sessions to save the Test with Murali and Herath on a 4th day pitch. My point: Yardley needs to rethink what he wants Sri Lanka to do.
(Editors note: Ahem, how prescient was that! I should buy some lottery tickets tonight.)
1:33am: ZAK bounces and hits Mahela on the helmet off the glove. Falls harmlessly but that is a good sign for ZAK. Will keep him interested. Prasanna neatly hooks a bouncer away for a single and Mahela simply sits under the next bouncer. 438 for 5, Prasanna 30, Mahela 114. Surely, this is the highest score by a Sri Lankan in India. The folks on TV have not picked up on this yet.
1:37am: Yuvraj replaces Economy Singh. Not quite the change I wanted. I wonder how long before Gavaskar talks about his "partnership-breaking" skills. Too many singles on offer and no pressure at all on the batsmen to change the way they are playing. One bad ball - a short one outside the off-stump, and Mahela thumps it to deep midwicket. Easy pickings.
443 for 5 in 111 overs, Prasanna on 31 and Mahela on 118. Drinks break. India bowled 14.4 overs in that session. Amazing! They may actually complete all the overs today. Wow.
ZAK and Yuvraj resume after the drinks break and give away a slow trickle of singles. Both teams content to take what the other team is giving them.
1:55am: Prasanna touches a ball to the keeper down the leg-side. Dhoni does not appeal, Zaheer screams, but Tony Hill is unmoved. Oh dear, that was a clear catch. I guess it cancels out the Mathews dismissal. I doubt Matthews feels that is fair exchange, though.
453 for 5 in 114 overs, Prasanna 34, Mahela 124.
2:02am: The Indians finally convince the umpires that the ball is out of shape after about three tries. Maybe the "new" ball will shake things up. That brings Ishant Sharma back into the attack. Too bad ZAK just finished a longish spell.
2:11am: Harbhajan starts to goof off on the field, keeping people in splits. The crowd wakes up. I wish he had shown this enthusiasm when he was bowling earlier. At least this enlivens the proceedings somewhat. Sri Lanka is remorselessly grinding the bowling into the dust, taking singles way too often. Only 2 boundaries in the last 17 overs, and yet Sri Lanka has put on 63 runs without losing a wicket. That, in a nutshell, describes the play so far.
2:32am: The play meanders along. Sri Lanka progresses to 470 for 5 in 120 overs, Mahela on 134, Prasanna on 42. The duo have now put on 100 runs. Mishra comes on to join Harbhajan and bowl to the Jayawardene's. Mishra coming round the wicket and bowling into the rough. Mishra is getting some prodigious turn and spins a ball from wide outside the leg-stump past the bat and past the off-stump. Is this the line he needs to get his confidence back?
2:40am: At tea, Sri Lanka is 480 for 5 in 123 overs, Prasanna on 43, Mahela in 142. Jayawardene needs just 111 runs to reach 9,000 Test runs. The way he is batting, it looks like he will reach that milestone by tomorrow morning.
3:05am: Harbhajan begins the post-tea proceedings by bowling way outside the off-stump. Prasanna stretches way across and still sweeps it to fine-leg for two runs. No fielder close-in, not even a slip. Singles galore everywhere. Economy actually looks unhappy about the field, would you believe it?
3:08am: Mishra continues with the outside the leg-stump, spin it into the batsman, line. He is getting some tremendous amount of spin there. Prasanna is resorting to paying with his pads. Prasanna pads away all but one ball in the over. Maiden for Mishra.
In a very odd way, even this is quite riveting. Not as riveting as a true challenge between bat and ball, but riveting in a different way. India is daring Sri Lanka to take risks and take the initiative to put the game away. Let's see how this pans out.
3:11am: Economy is replaced by Achey-knee Singh, who is going to bowl with no close-in fielders. Mahela takes a single to long-on and brings the less-experienced Prsanna on strike, who flicks a single. I don't think Harbhajan wanted to bowl this line and continue to ruin his stats, so Yuvraj was drafted in. First 4 balls fetch 4 singles. This is pointless now. No pressure and singles all the way. This is Chinese water torture of the dripping run-bleeding kind. Finally, 5 singles in the over.
Dhoni looks bereft of ideas now. Mishra continues with his line outside leg-stump, which gets padded away by Mahela. The lead sits at 65 runs. There are 32 overs left in the day's play today. That's a long time to be bowling three feet outside the rough. Two maidens in a row for Mishra now.
3:19am: Yuvraj finally induces an outside edge from Mahela but there is no slip to catch it and it races away to the third man fence. Mahela is on 149, and dabs the next ball to the afore-mentioned third man fence for another four and another score over 150, the 12th of his career. Sri Lanka's 500 comes up, and Prasanna is waiting on 49 now.
3:21am: Prasanna gets to 50 with a single off a no-ball (another one for Mishra). 5 runs in the over takes them to 505 for 5 in 130 overs. Prasanna on 51, Mahela on 155.
3:26am: Laxman does the Kumble dive, Yuvraj gives singles to midwicket, Mahela cuts a four to the fence. Even the commentators are finding it hard to inject excitement into their voices. Where's Sivaramakrishnan when you need him? 514 for 5 in 132 overs, Prasanna is 53, Mahela 162.
3:30am: Sachin Tendulkar sighting. Naturally, the crowd wakes up. Of late he has taken to bowling to an inside-outside field, so thats what we get.
Obligatory SRT Milestone watch: Sachin needs 1 more wicket to reach 200 international wickets.
6 runs off that over, without a sweat. 520 for 5 in 133 overs. At least the crowd wakes up now.
Double leg-spin attack and, right on cue, Sivaramakrishnan comes back into the
3:37am: Sachin resorts to the leg-stump line, too. This is a waste of his bowling, I think. Russell Arnold finally says it - if we thought Murali bowled badly, watching Harbhajan bowling showed us that Murali was not that bad. (Editor's note: At this point, Arnold also had another less-than-complimentary thing to say about Harbhajan's performance and I shall lead the Day 4 diary with that statement since it was right on the money.)
Prasanna jumps out, misses the ball, which spins so viciously it goes straight to first slip. Dravid throws down the stumps but Prasanna made it back in time. Prasanna goes to sweep the last ball and misses it completely. Luckily he is struck on the full outside the leg-stump.
Say what you will about the man, Tendulkar the bowler makes things happen.
The lead is approaching 100 runs now. Mishra continues his leg-stump line.
3:53am: Plenty of outside the leg-stump stuff from both bowlers. Runs coming in trickles now but coming nevertheless. 531 for 5 in 139 overs, Prasanna on 60 Mahela on 172. The last ball by Tendulkar was a beauty, spinning from outside the leg-stump, beating Mahela's forward prod and just sliding past the off-stump.
Drinks taken. 21 overs left, Sri Lanka leads by 105 runs.
The last hour and a half of play was a battle of attrition. After a while wrting about it got repetitive, as it was a whole bunch of drip-drip run-making, and even more attempts to strangle the runs with a spread field (to prevent boundaries) and bowling wide of the stumps or onto the legs with a packed field.
Sri Lanka still made steady progress and since India did not look like it was even trying to take wickets, they did not help out either. The only dose of excitement came as Jayawardene neared his double century. The field came in and Mahela had to wait all of five balls to move from 199 to 200, his 6th double century in Tests. Those five balls showed me (but probably not the Indian team) that putting a few more people close to the bat could have prevented some of the singles that were taken.
Prasanna Jayawardene was still around, settling down after a hectic start, ending the day within 16 runs of a century.
Sri Lanka is leading by 165 runs, still has 5 wickets in hand, and the new ball will be due in a couple of overs. If India does not limit the damage to under 200 (and they will not if they come out with a defensive mindset in the morning tomorrow), Murali and co will be lying in wait in the second innings, when survival instincts will be called upon. And that is not the best time to be a Tendulkar fan.
On that note, good night.
Last night, or rather, early this morning when I finished the diary for the day, I clicked on the "Save as Draft" button rather than the "Publish post" button and shut down my computer. I apologize if you came and saw the truncated diary and assumed I had given up watching.
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