It was a run orgy at the Green Park stadium in Kanpur. The first session witnessed a semblance of battle, at least in the first hour, but play for the rest of the day was a one-way street heading India’s way. Gautam Gambhir notched up his seventh hundred in nine Tests, Virender Sehwag completed a feisty century, Rahul Dravid was close to his ton and India posted the highest total scored in a day in a Test in India.
The situation was summed up by the sight of Rangana Herath bowling over the stumps and outside leg to the newly arrived Dravid. It said so much about what Sri Lanka were thinking and about how totally India had dominated. Things are likely to get worse for Sri Lanka with the pitch expected to break up in a couple of days.
It wasn’t just the runs, it was the manner in which they were compiled from the second hour on that was telling. The batsmen seemed to do as they wished: Gambhir punctuated his charges down the wicket with delicate late cuts, Sehwag went either inside-out or carved across the line as his mood seized him, and Dravid, who hit the last ball of the day for a boundary, pierced the off-side field at will.
On a day like this stat-freaks were bound to have a field day: It was the first time India scored over 400 in a day, it was the highest opening partnership between Gambhir and Sehwag, and even, Muralitharan, at one point, was leaking at over 6 runs per over.
The most telling statistic was the spinners’ figures. Sri Lanka had managed to keep the scoring rate down with the new ball but things went pear-shaped for them after the spinners were introduced, with Sehwag and Gambhir looting 73 runs off nine overs before lunch and little changing after the break. They weren’t allowed to settle at all by the openers who lashed out at them with a calculated fury that was breathtaking to watch.
Gambhir went after Herath in his first over, hitting him for three boundaries: He whipped through covers, cut past point and stepped out to loft to the straight boundary. When Herath returned later, Gambhir went repeatedly down the track to drive him to distraction. If Gambhir reserved the best of his aggression for Herath, Sehwag went after Mendis in the first session and took care of Muralitharan in the second. Mendis floated a full toss, offered a long-hop and slid one down the leg side in his first spell and Sehwag sent each one to the boundary. The attacking spirit was best seen in the last over before lunch when Sehwag launched an offbreak from Mendis high over long-on. That aggression continued post lunch with Sehwag collecting five boundaries against Muralitharan: Two fierce off drives, an inside-edge, and a tuck to fine-leg boundary which brought up his hundred. He fell to Muralitharan though, against the run of play, trying to play an inside-out cover drive to a length delivery but failing to clear cover.
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