Twin half-centuries from Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir underlined India's domination of the morning session as the hosts cruised to 131 for no loss at lunch on the opening day of the second against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
Twin half-centuries from Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir underlined India's domination of the morning session as the hosts cruised to 131 for no loss at lunch on the opening day of the second against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
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Beneficiary of a dropped catch when he was yet to open his account, Sehwag shrugged off his early shakiness to amble to his 20th Test half-century and remained unbeaten after a 73-ball 70 that had eight fours and two sixes in it.
Gambhir, meanwhile, reached the fifty mark for the 11th time in his career and looked impregnable during his 84-ball 59, studded with seven fours.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni does not fancy batting in the fourth innings, especially when world's highest wicket-taker Muttiah Muralitharan lurks in the rival camp and it was the precise guiding principle behind the India captain's decision to bat first.
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| Gautam Gambhir |
However, Sehwag's early hit-and-miss, in stark contrast to Gambhir's poise, left the camp uneasy.
In all, Sehwag survived one split sitter and three vociferous LBW appeals in the first hour itself.
The first ball he connected was a swish and Mahela Jayawardene, unsighted by a diving Prasanna Jayawardene, grassed a sitter in the first slip off Chamara Welegedara.
Even when Sehwag connected, it was not the usual musical note of his willow but a jarring thud that exposed his struggle to find the meat of the bat.
Clearly ill at ease against Welegedara, Sehwag found Angelo Mathews less hostile and two fours off the all-rounder's sixth over came as welcome relief.
Sehwag did an encore of the treatment in Mathews' next over, a copybook straight drive followed by a carbon copy of the original.
Gambhir at the other end was his composed self, immaculate in defence and controlled in his aggression. His first two fours came behind the wicket before he cover drove Welegedara for a delectable four.
And when Sri Lanka captain pressed Rangana Herath into attack, Gambhir ensured the left-arm spinner was withdrawn at the earliest.
Gambhir charged out to the first ball Herath bowled, driving it through extra cover and hit two more fours before Sangakkara replaced Herath with Ajantha Mendis. By then, Sehwag had found his feet as he summarily dispatched a Mendis full toss over deep mid-wicket ropes fort the first six.
Sehwag hit Mendis for back-to-back boundaries in the 22nd over to overtake Gambhir in the race to half-century but two balls later, the left-hander ran a two to reach the feat. It was a tripple bonanza as India's 100 also came in that over.
India went into the match with two changes in the side - S Sreesanth and Pragyan Ojha swapping the bench with off-color Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra.
Sri Lanka, on their part, opted for a three-pronged spin attack, bringing in Mendis in place of injured Dammika Prasad.
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