Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir hit impressive half-centuries to give
India a solid start as the visitors reach 151 without loss at lunch on the opening
day of the second cricket Test here today.Sehwag was unbeaten on 91 while Gambhir
was batting at 50 after India, aiming to square the series, elected to bat at
Galle International stadium.
It looked an altogether different ball game after the humiliating innings defeat in the first Test with both Sehwag
and Gambhir negotiating the twin-threat of Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan
in a confident manner. Sehwag, who hammered 14 boundaries
and a six, survived a third umpire review before shaping his innings with elegance
as well as aggression, albeit controlled. Gambhir got a
life when he was on 13 and ensured he cash in on the chance to deny Sri Lanka
further opportunity. He took 92 balls to raise his fourth
Test fifty while Sehwag was in prime form as he took just 82-balls for his 91. Even
magical Muralitharan was rendered ordinary as Sehwag scored boundaries off the
off-spinner quite freely. Earlier, Nuwan Kulasekara
tested both the Indian openers with his pace and bounce coupled with good line
and length, deceiving them a number of times in his openig spell. However,
the paceman was unlucky as Sehwag and Gambhir missed edge on many occasions and
the deliveries that got egde either did not carry or dropped by fielders. Gambhir
went for a flashy shot outside the off-stump, managed a thin edge towards first
slip Kumar Sangakkara but he could not hold on to the chance as wicket
keeper Prasnna Jayawardene dived across blocking the view.
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