Sangakkara and Jayawardene give complete command to Sri Lanka

T V Sriram
Colombo, July 27 (PTI) Sri Lanka buried a hapless India
under a mountain of runs as they relied on skipper Kumar
Sangakkara's seventh double century and Mahela Jayawardene's
sparkling ton to push the visitors on the backfoot in the
second cricket Test here Tuesday.
Sangakkara led from the front with an imposing 219 while
Jayawardene (174) notched up his 27th century as the hosts
declared the first innings at a mammoth 642 for four.
In reply, India were 95 for no loss but still trailing by
547 runs at close on the second day which saw only two wickets
fall and as many as 425 runs being scored on a placid.
Sinhalese Sports Club.
It was yet another day of toil and frustration for the
Indian bowlers who failed to make much of an impression
against the Lankan batsmen, who scored at a brisk pace right
through the day.
Sehwag (64) and Murali Vijay (22) batted in contrasting
fashion as India survived 18 overs in the last session of the
day without a blot on its scorecard.
The sound start, best in the series so far, also lifted
the gloom over the India camp as they worked hard without much
success in the field for more than five sessions.
Perched on top the Test rankings, India need to win this
match as a defeat would not only take away their number one
rank but also extend their winless streak in a Test series in
the Island nation.
Sehwag was his usual aggressive self and was harsh on the
Lankan bowlers, particularly paceman Dammika Prasad, whom he
hit thrice in third over to set the tone for the Indian reply.
Exploiting the life less track, like their counterparts,
India scored quickly and at an impressive run-rate of 5.27.
Sehwag, the only centurion on this tour for the visitors,
scored 48 of his 64 runs in boundaries while Vijay batted
cautiously from the other end.
Resuming the day at 312 for two, Sri Lanka started from
where they had left on day one as Sangakkara and Jayawardene
went about murdering the clueless Indian attack effortlessly.
The Lankan skipper, overnight 130, did not take much time
to complete his double century and with Jayawardene raised a
193-run partnership for the third wicket.
Sangakkara's knock came in 335 balls and was laced with
29 hits to the boundary.
Thilan Samaraweera (76) joined his vice-captain in the
middle and remained their till the declaration. More PTI TVS
KAB


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