Cricket:Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath claimed five wickets as Sri Lanka bowled India out for a first-innings total of 642 on day two of the second Test in Kanpur.
India, 417 for two at the start of the day, had piled on the runs through the first two sessions with only Sachin Tendulkar (40) among the top six batsmen failing to get beyond the half-century mark.
Rahul Dravid (144) notched another century, VVS Laxman made 63 and Yuvraj Singh hammered 67 to leave Sri Lanka with a battle on their hands and India in a position from which they probably cannot lose.
India were heading for a score beyond the 700-run mark, but Herath, who had claimed the wickets of Laxman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh in the afternoon session, picked up the wickets of Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth to bowl India out 20 minutes after the tea interval.
Herath finished with figures of five for 121 from 33 overs, while Ajantha Mendis claimed two for 162 from 38.
India’s innings in the morning had revolved around Dravid.
The middle-order batsman, on 85 at the start of the day after scoring 177 in the first innings of the Ahmedabad Test, had begun the day with an inside-edged boundary which flew perilously close to leg stump.
It was the only false stroke from Dravid, the batsman thereafter going from strength to strength and reaching his century with a straight drive past fast bowler Chanaka Welegedara.
The middle-order batsman, who went past Allan Border’s mark of 11,174 runs in Test cricket, fell just before lunch when left-arm spinner Herath palmed a shot from Laxman onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end and caught Dravid backing up too far.
By then Dravid had already lost overnight batting partner Tendulkar (40), who fell to the guile of Mendis.
Mendis should have had Tendulkar’s scalp earlier than he eventually did, Tillakaratne Dilshan grassing a catch at mid-wicket as the batsman attempted a lazy on-drive.
Tendulkar then hammered Mendis for a six but was snaffled at he attempted to hit one too many over the top, failing to clear Thilan Samaraweera at deep mid-off.
Laxman, who was briskly off the mark and added 47 with Dravid, was then joined by Yuvraj and the pair continued to hammer Sri Lanka’s innocuous attack.
Laxman reached his 41st Test half-century with a single off Muttiah Muralitharan, but fell while attempting to force the pace. He stepped out to hit Herath over the top, but picked out Dilshan at mid-off.
By then, Yuvraj had reached his eighth half-century — the fourth against Sri Lanka — as India accumulated runs at a steady rate.
Herath struck again just before the tea interval to bowl Dhoni and claimed his third wicket when he bowled Harbhajan in similar fashion, the tea interval being taken at the fall of that wicket.
He the tore into the tail when play resumed, picking up the wickets of Zaheer and Sreesanth in one over while Mendis triggered the fall with the wicket of Yuvraj — caught at mid-wicket by Kumar Sangakkara as he attempted to pull.