Running Diary - Day 3: Attritional ascendency by India

This is a running diary that I will keep updating periodically with random thoughts as and when they occur during the day's play of the third Test between India and Sri Lanka being played at Mumbai (December 2-6, 2009). I shall keep it in chronological order so the latest additions will be at the tail end of the diary. Also, since this is being done on the fly, excuse the spelling and grammatical mistakes.

Running diary - Day 1: Dilshan and Mathews keep India at bay

Running diary - Day 2: One word - Sehwag

9:50pm: Day 3 promises to be a lot of fun. I am curious to see how Virender Sehwag feels this morning. I sense that he may have blown his chance to get to 300 yesterday. Ignoring the score, I hope Sangakkara begins the day with an attacking field, looking to get the batsmen out. That is Sri Lanka's only hope. If they spread the field as soon as the ball is hit to the boundary they will simply be playing for time. With 3 days to go, time is a commodity in great supply for India.

India 443 for 1 in 79 overs. Sehwag on 284, Rahul Dravid on 62.

9:58am: Sunil Gavaskar (SMG) does a very odd pitch report speaking "for" all the players involved in the match. For Sehwag the pitch report is just a little ritual that is done before the day gets started. The umpires are on their way to the middle and SMG and Ravi Shastri are doing the commentary, no doubt excited about the impending milestones that the Indian team and its players can leave behind in their wake. All of this is disregarding Sri Lanka. The field placement to start the day's play will tell us a lot about the mindset of the visitors.

10:01pm: Rangana Herath to start, just one slip and short mid-off in place. After watchfully playing away the first five balls, Sehwag hits the ball hard to sweeper cover for the first run of the day.

10:05pm: Muttaiah Muralitharan at the other end to Sehwag. Just a forward short-leg and short midwicket close-in. Murali starts round the wicket and Sehwag defends the first three balls. Sehwag delicately late cuts the fourth for a couple of runs to third man. Repeats the shot for a single this time. Murali finishes the cheapest over of the innings for him, giving away just 3 runs in that. 70 maiden-less overs and counting for the maestro.

10:10pm: Sehwag punches Herath off the backfoot to deep midwicket and hurries through for an easy two and follows that with a single. Into the 290's here. Rahul Dravid plays at and misses a sharply spinning ball and Dravid hits the ground but the Sri Lankans are convinced they got the man. Clearly missed everything on the replay and Dravid's bat did hit the ground. Dravid gets mad! He dances down the wicket and sends the ball way over long-on for a six.

456 for 1 in 82 overs. Sehwag on 291, Dravid on 68.

10:13pm: Another late cut by Sehwag for a brace, taking the ball from in front of off-stump. The next ball is looped in and Sehwag tamely bunts it back straight to Murali who juggles the ball but takes it on the second try. Sehwag out for 293.

10:24pm: Sachin Tendulkar (SRT) walks in at 458 for 2. He takes on Murali and paddle sweeps him for four and then jumps out and thumps him through midwicket for another four.

10:26pm: There is an awkward hush around the stadium now that Viru is out and the match has settled into a normal Test mode. Herath completes a tidy over in which he gave just a couple of runs to deep fine-leg.

10:29pm: Murali continues round the wicket and SRT misses a couple of paddle sweeps. Gives up and flicks it instead for a single. Test match batting for Dravid, defending away safely, bat in front of the pad. Murali is energized now, flighting and getting bite and bounce from the wicket.

10:32pm: Herath bowls the worst ball I have seen him bowl in three Tests, short and on the leg-side. SRT leans back and swings it will full gusto to the midwicket fence. The next ball elicits a Dhoni double to the square-leg umpire. SRT looking like he wants a move on today. The latent ghost of Sehwag may be hanging around in Viru's role model.

481 for 2 in 88 overs. Dravid on 74, SRT on 18. India lead by 93.

10:35pm: SRT eats up a ball wide outside the leg stump from Murali and gets his 4th boundary of the day with a paddle sweep. The rest of the over is negotiated quietly. Murali is bowling with a forward short-leg and a leg slip in place while coming round the wicket. He has the wicket of Sehwag so he is smiling quite a bit.

10:38pm: Chanaka Welegadara comes on now, replacing the off-color Herath. Bowling wide of the off-stump to a solitary slip and a save-the-boundary field. No intent being shown by Sangakkara to try to take wickets. One no-ball in the over and the other balls harmlessly left until the last ball of the over which is on the same line and Dravid loses his patience, chases it and edges it to the keeper. Uncharacteristic dismissal but similar to ones he suffered in Australia at the hands of Mitchell Johnson.

Dravid out for 74. VVS Laxman comes in now. 487 for 3 in 90 overs. SRT is still there on 22.

10:45pm: Murali goes over the wicket for the first time and the leg slip disappears. SRT plays a typical SRT drive through covers for a simple boundary. Then flicks a single to bring Laxman on strike for one ball. Murali goes back to round the wicket but easily patted away by Laxman.

10:50pm: Welegedara is given a 6-3 field but bowls on SRT's pads and gets clipped away for a couple. Now he resumes his wide of the off-stump line. Better line from Sri Lanka's perspective. Welegedara asks for and get a short midwicket and bowls a slower ball but SRT gently pats it away. The last ball is a bouncer that is very easily negotiated by the little fellow who sits down at the crease.

10:54pm: Murali coming round the wicket to a strong leg-side field. A Laxman field. forward short-leg, leg slip, short fine-leg, short square-leg and short midwicket stopping the flick that he plays so easily. Laxman content to play Murali off the backfoot. The field is restricting him and Murali finally bowls a maiden after 75 consecutive non-maiden overs. Wow.

10:58pm: Welegedara is bowling wide of the stumps but gives up a single off the last ball. Maiden thwarted and Sri Lanka does not get it's back-to-back maidens.

11:02pm: Murali is bowling wide outside the leg-stump and a short ball is missed out on by Laxman. The Sri Lankans appeal for a catch but Darryl Harper refuses the request. Murali ends the over with no further runs and drinks are taken.

The first hour has produced 54 runs but at the cost of two wickets for India. Laxman is not even trying to force the ball into gaps and is on 0 off 11 balls. SRT has also slowed down after a quick start. The last 4 overs have produced just 5 runs. Funnily, even though India has the 104 run lead they appear to be under some stress as they need to make this innings count and get a huge 300 plus lead.

11:10p: Welegedara continues after the drinks break and is keeping Laxman quiet. Laxman is just content to play with a short backlift. The entire momentum generated by Sehwag is gone. The Sri Lankans look a lot more active and happy and seeing Laxman in this defensive mood is buoying their spirits even further. Same pitch, same bowlers as the ones Sehwag played. What a contrast! Laxman finally gets to push it to cover and gets a single. Why is the fielder so deep, Sangakkara? You disappoint me so. Here you have a batsman who is afraid of hitting it too hard and you just give him a gap to exploit. Aaargh!

501 for 3 in 96 overs. Laxman on 1, SRT on 34.

11:14pm: I wonder how Sehwag would have played Murali who is still bowling to the Laxman field and getting away with it, keeping Laxman quiet. Laxman continues to try to pierce the tight field and finally gets through for his second run.

11:17pm: Herath comes back. Surely he will bowl over the wicket and outside the leg-stump. Nope, he comes round the wicket to SRT. A couple of singles to both batsmen result and nothing much happens.

11:21pm: Flick-drive from Laxman for a couple of runs to deep midwicket. A few balls later he just taps to short point and gets another single. Katra katra...

508 for 3 in 99 overs. SRT on 36, VVS on 6.

11:25pm: Herath is bowling outside the off-stump and Laxman and SRT clean up to the tune of 6 runs in the cover region. I think Herath is trying to set them up for the carrom ball. Bowls it but Laxman leans forward and pats it to midwicket.

514 for 3 in 100 overs. SRT on 38, VVS on 10. India lead by 121.

11:28pm: The crowd is starting to get back into it, cheering every single from SRT now. They are slowly getting over the disappointment of losing Sehwag's brand of entertainment. 5 men around Laxman to stop the flick shot, a testament to how worrisome his various flicks are to the fielding team. So far the field is succeeding very well and Laxman repeatedly finds the fielders. This is the same type of field that was used to slow down Laxman in the first Test when he was trying to give the strike to SRT, who was batting in sight of his century. It worked then, it is working now.

11:33pm: SRT gets two runs from a paddle sweep but otherwise is finding it hard to get runs. At the other end, Murali pitches it short and Laxman goes over the packed field with a pull shot that bounces a couple of times before crossing the square-leg boundary. Bad ball by Murali. Then Laxman walks way back into his crease and flicks it past leg slip for a sharp single to short fine-leg.

522 for 3 in 103 overs. SRT on 41 and Laxman on 15.

11:40pm: SRT takes the last ball of the over and sweeps it conventionally to deep square leg for his first boundary in ages. The first real signs of intent from the man in over half an hour. Laxman's stodginess is rubbing off on SRT. Is this a sign he may be trying to break the shackles? The new ball is available now and, yes, the Sri Lankans take it right away.

11:42pm: Nuwan Kulasekara is entrusted with the new ball. Bowling to just two slips and a short cover in close on the off and a short mid-on on the on-side. The rest of the fielders are about 3/4th's of the way to the boundary. Laxman exploits the distance to deep point to get off the strike. SRT is beaten by a slightly moving ball from Kulasekara and the next ball is watchfully left by him. There was width on offer but SRT is not biting.

528 for 3 in 105 overs. Run rate has been falling today and it is just above 5 now. Laxman on 17, SRT on 45.

11:52pm: Two runs in that over and with the score at 530 in 106 overs, the run rate is exactly 5. The dip continues. SRT is on 46, Laxman on 18. 50 balls into his innings, Laxman hits the first authentic Laxman shot, a punch that was all timing, racing away to the cover boundary.

Last over before lunch coming up and SRT on strike to Welegedara. Laxman on 22, SRT on 47. India lead by 142 runs. SRT is watchful and takes a single off the fifth ball of the over when Welegedara finally moves onto SRT's pads. VVS defends the last ball and takes us to lunch. India has scored 93 runs in this session for the loss of two wickets. What a contrast to yesterday.

It has been a fairly dull morning with the Sri Lankans and the Indians (post Sehwag) going back into the 1980's handbook on how to play Test cricket. Time for a break now. Be back in half an hour as the beast needs to be fed.

536 for 3 in 108 overs at lunch, SRT on 48, VVS on 22. India leads by 143 runs.

There are 4 hours of play to go (4.5 actually) and 60 overs left in the day. If India bats cautiously they can get 200 more taking the lead near 350. So, a push in the final couple of hours should take the lead over 400. Enough, I think. Let's see how the afternoon unfolds.

12:43am: Kulasekara continues. Two slips in place and that's it for close-in catchers. Three fielders in the cover to mid-off arc. SRT cuts to third man for a single. 50 run partnership in almost 20 overs. Sad way to consolidate the start from Sehwag. Laxman pulls to deep square-leg for a single. SRT gets beaten on the forward press as the ball moves away after pitching. He is looking for a single to take him to 50. I predict it will be a flick that gets him there. And it is a flick to deep fine-leg and his 54th Test 50 is on the board. The young man needs another 33 runs to get to 13,000 Test runs, by the way.

12:55am: The game has come to a standstill as neither batsman is even trying to push the ball off the square. The camera lingers on Sehwag in the dressing room, talking to Gary Kirsten. I wonder if he is calculating what the score would have been had he still been out there. It definitely would have been more than 540 by now, for sure. 6 singles since lunch in 3 overs.

1:06am: Since neither batsman is looking to take on the bowlers a slow dance is being played out. Sri Lanka is not actively trying to take wickets and India is not trying to force anything.

1:07am: As I say that, the first shot in anger is a hook by Laxman off Welegedara to the deep square leg boundary. The next ball is fuller and, anticipating that, Laxman flicks from ouside the off-stump to the long-on fence. A Laxman specialty that. Another shorter ball that is flicked through midwicket for a single. In three balls Laxman doubles the run output since lunch. It is also the best over of the day and there are 3 balls to go. The fourth ball is punched through cover where Sangakkara dives away to his left and slows the ball - two runs. The fifth is defended and so is the last one.

558 for 3 in 114 overs. Laxman on 39, SRT on 53. India lead by 165 runs. 55 overs to go.

1:13am: SRT is caught on the walk and the ball cuts through the gap between bat and pad and he is bowled by Kulasekara. SRT gone for 53 in 103 balls. I firmly believe the lack of intent did him in. SRT and Laxman allowed the bowlers to bowl where they wanted to without fear of being hit. 71 run partnership in 24 overs, of which 12 runs came in the last over. Slow going.

1:21am: Laxman glides Welegedara to the third man fence. He follows that with an Azhar-like twirl of the bat to a short-pitched ball outside the off-stump and the ball is smashed to deep point for another 4. The field spreads completely and Laxman simply flicks from outside the off-stump to midwicket for an easy single. Russell Arnold asks Ravi Shastri if Laxman is the best player of pace in the Indian team. Shastri ponders and drives around the SRT, Sehwag, Dravid, and Gambhir wagon and contends that VVS is a good player of pace but not the best. Unfortunately, he does not name his vote for the best player. He does add that if you talk about spin bowling then Laxman rises in the list because of his wrist work.

1:28am: Kulasekara is getting the ball to cut in, i.e. cut away from the left-hander, and beats Yuvraj on consecutive balls as the batsman was poking outside his off-stump. Typical early jitters for Yuvraj. Sri Lanka have to get him in the next 10 runs because if he gets going on this pitch he will have some fun.

1:29am: After a long, long time Murali is back in the attack. Yuvraj does have problems against Murali so this should be a good one. 7 fielders on the on-side for Laxman as Murali goes around the stumps and bowls a foot outside the stumps. Laxman still manages to flick in the gap between leg slip and short fine-leg and gets to his third 50 of this Test series. This time he has enough breathing room to make it a big one as India bats for time for another couple of sessions. Murali has a big smile on his face as he bowls to Yuvraj. It took three Tests for this but finally he seems to be enjoying bowling. Not seeing Sehwag in front of him is a big relief. Yuvraj leans forward and thumps the ball with a straight bat - two bounces into the long-off fence. Immediately Sangakkara sends mid-off back. Too soon Kumar. Have some faith in your bowler. Let Yuvraj try it again...

575 for 4 in 118 overs. Laxman on 50 and Yuvraj on 6. India lead by 182 runs with 51 overs to go.

1:38am: Kulasekara gives up two singles and then, off the last ball, watches helplessly as a proper ball in the corridor outside off-stump is timed away to the cover fence by Laxman. The bat did not cross the perpendicular after it hit the ball. The placement was superb, through the three fielders in that region. Vintage VVS.

1:40am: Short spell for Murali. Herath comes on. Maybe Murali wants to change ends. No, it looks like Murali is nursing his ring finger, which is one of his spinning fingers due to the weird wrist position he has for releasing the ball. Seems to be in some discomfort but is not leaving the field.

583 for 4 in 120 overs. Yuvraj on 7, Laxman on 57. India lead by 190 with 49 overs to go.

1:53am: I don't believe this! Yuvraj Singh jumps out of the crease to Herath, is beaten comprehensively, and Prasanna Jayawardene fails to even collect the ball. I would not have believed it if I had not seen it myself. It was a routine stumping for any keeper. Prasanna has dropped Sehwag's catches in the first two Tests and this time misses a stumping.

1:58am: Laxman paddle sweeps Murali on the bounce over leg-slip for a four. Oh no! He jumps out and tries to clean long-on. Instead the ball climbs high in the air and Kulasekara settles under it at mid-on. He just threw it away there. If anything, he should have tried to hit it inside out onto the off-side where there are just 2 fielders. Grrrr....Laxman is out for 62.

592 for 5 in 123 overs. Yuvraj on 11 and MS Dhoni joins him now. India lead by 199 runs with 46 overs to go.

2:02am: Yuvaj bludgeons a sweep shot to the square-leg fence. MS then edges a ball past slip and gets three runs to take India's total past 600. In spite of how huge it is, it is not big enough. India must ensure it does not need to bat again in this Test match.

2:16am: Yuvraj and Dhoni have been punching away in the gaps and taking singles. Sri lanka is keeping a tight leg-side field and bowling there but the gaps are there for these swift runners to exploit. Suddenly, against the grain, Yuvraj goes to clear deep mid-off and an easy catch by Mathew gives Herath a wicket. Yuvraj out for 23. Harbhajan takes a single and Dhoni lunging forward edges the ball between Mahela at first slip and Dilshan at second slip at waist height to the boundary. Herath is starting to get the ball to talk a little bit now.

615 for 6 in 128 overs. India lead by 222 runs with 42 overs to go. Dhoni is on 10.

Harbhajan Singh commits hara-kiri. Going for the reverse sweep for the second time in this series, Harbhajan donates a wicket to Murali. I hope he thinks about this when he is bowling and the batsmen refuse to give in so easily. The match is still very open. Very bizzare series of dismissals here with Laxman, Yuvraj, and Harbhajan just throwing their wickets away as if the lead is near 400. It is just 222. After this over there will still be another 220 overs left in this Test. Enough time for Sri Lanka to overhaul India's score, put up a total and put India under pressure on a 5th day pitch. Surely they don't think it is enough, do they?

2:35am: Dhoni is meshing into ODI mode here, scampering for two's and looking for singles. The worrisome aspect for me is that Murali is unable to make an impression on Zaheer Khan, who is able to play him away easily. If Murali is struggling against a tailender, what hope do the Indian bowlers have against the front-line batmen?

Possibly the last over before tea. Herath on to bowl to Dhoni who defends with such soft hands that the bat turns 180 degrees in his hands upon contact!

628 for 7 in 134 overs. Dhoni is on 20, ZAK on 3. India lead by 235 runs with 34 overs left in the day. Herath bowled the previous over so quickly, Murali has time to squeeze in another over to Dhoni. No damage done.

At tea India are 629 for 7 in 135 overs. Dhoni is on 21, ZAK on 3. India lead by 236 runs with 33 overs to go. I'll be back in 20 minutes.

3:04am: Dhoni begins with a Dhoni double to square-leg. Basically it refers to the situation wherein he drops the ball with soft hands towards the square-leg umpire and since the fielders on the boundary assume it is a simple single and come ambling in, he races across and completes two runs. Dhoni is not afraid to give the strike to ZAK, who is defending away competently.

3:07am: The commentators begin to indulge in their favorite parlor game - guessing when the batting team will/should declare. Ravi Shastri thinks that India should give itself an hour before close today to bowl at the Sri Lankans, with a lead of about 300 in the bag. Another Dhoni double is easily taken and those are the only runs of the over. Dhoni still hasn't transitioned to the slog over Dhoni. Content to deal in ones and the occasional two. Sri Lanka keeps a leg-side heavy field for Dhoni and a run-saving field for ZAK. Neither team is trying really hard to do anything different after the brief flurry of wickets.

I will write again when something different happens.

645 for 7 in 142 overs. Dhoni on 33, ZAK on 7. India lead by 252 runs with 26 overs to go.

3:33am: ZAK suddenly decides to swing away to long on where Kulasekara running backwards takes a great catch. Murali picks up gift wicket number 4. How unexpected was that? ZAK scored 7 runs in 51 balls in a partnership of 32 in as many as 16 overs. India has meandered along again.

647 for 8 in 145 overs. India lead by 254 with Dhoni on 33.

3:52am: Finally! Dhoni waltzes down and hits the biggest straight six of the match so far off Herath. The next ball is a Dhoni double to midwicket taking him to 49. The rest of the over is spent in trying to get that 50th run but he fails. The quest for the 50th run spills over into the next over but he is unable to put Murali away into a gap.

668 for 8. Lead is 275. Dhoni on 49, Sresanth on 7.

Eventually after spending about 11 balls on 49, Dhoni walks down the wicket and rolls the ball to long-on for a single to take him to the 17th fifty of his career. The next ball fetches a wicket as Sreesanth is trapped plumb in front of middle stump as he goes back to flick and misses. Sreesanth begins to walk even before the umpire gives the decision!

670 for 9 in 151.4 overs. Dhoni on 50. India lead by 277 runs with 17.2 overs left today.

4:15am: This is going nowhere. India is not getting any runs as Dhoni is not taking singles unless it is the last ball of the over or close to it. The other balls are battered away but there are so many fielders on the boundary that no fours are forthcoming. The last five overs have produced 5 runs. If I was Sri Lanka I would try to not get them out. Let India keep batting. The longer India bats, the less time Sri Lanka has to worry about batting.

4:25am: Dhoni is occasionally finding the boundary and now launches an even bigger six than the one he hit previously. Phew! When he connects they really go far. He broke a chair in the second tier of the stand. Dhoni moves on to 69, Ojha is on 1. India's lead is now 298 runs.

4:31am: Welegedara bowls a bouncer and Dhoni swivels and smashes it for six over square leg. Moves on to 75, 3 balls still to go in the over. 698 for 9.

4:35am: Dhoni launches into another straight shot for a six off Herath. India crosses into the 700's. Herath still persists with a slip. Hope springs eternal. Dhoni moves onto 83.

(SMG reminds us that India has scored 261 runs in the whole day so far today, whereas Sehwag scored 284 runs all by himself yesterday.)

4:42am: Dhoni steps out to the leg-side and flat bats it to midwicket for another six. This is the highest score ever made by India in Tests. The shot he hit was nothing more than a flickish jab that is his specialty.

711 for 9 in 162 overs. Dhoni is on 89. India's lead is 318 runs. Ojha has contributed one run to the 41 run partnership so far.

4:6am: A double to the gap at midwicket takes Dhoni to 91. A fierce cut shot is dropped by the point fielder. It was a fiercely hit ball so we should applaud the fielder for stopping a four. The last ball is edged by Ojha for a four to the vacant third man area. Bonus runs, these.

4:51am: Dhoni sweeps and runs hard for a double and then, since he is on 94, he waltzes down the wicket and hits the longest six he has hit all day, I think, to reach his second 100 of the series. The irony is that Sangakkara does not have a century in the series and Dhoni has two. Whodathunk it? Dhoni went from 50 to 100 with Ojha for company. Ojha's contribution: 5 runs in 14 balls to the partnership of 56 runs.

Final damage: India scores 726 for 9 declared, a lead of 333 runs. Dhoni's 100 came in 154 balls with 3 fours and 6 sixes. At one point Dhoni was on 52 in 115 balls with 1 four and 1 six. After that he scored 48 runs in 39 balls with 5 sixes and 2 fours. Oh, you did know that Dhoni declared as soon as he got to his century, right? Sri Lanka has to bat three overs today.

5:00am: Harbhajan Singh has the ball to start the innings. Bowling to two slips, silly point and forward short-leg. Naturally, Harbhajan drifts down the leg-side and is glanced away to the boundary by Tharanga Paranavitana. Harbhajan is bowling round the wicket, by the way.

5:05am: Pragyan Ojha is going to bowl the second over. Tillakaratne Dilshan punches the ball to deep cover and gets a couple. The next ball sees him coming dancing down the wicket and driving to mid-off for a quick single. Slip, silly point, forward short-leg and backward short-leg for Tharanga. Tharanga's playing well forward and smothering the spin. Ohh, inner edges the ball but is lucky that it hits his pad and rolls down the edge of the bat. He ends the over with a gentle flick to midwicket to add to his score.

8 for no loss in 2 overs. Last over of the day coming up. Harbhajan is safely negotiated away by the two and Sri Lanka has all 10 wickets in hand for a two day battle to come.

11 for no loss in 3 overs. 180 overs to go in the Test. Sri Lanka trail by 322 runs.

Time to sleep. Good night.