Jayawardene's century helps Sri Lanka to a fighting total

Kandy, August 22: Indians put up a much better display than in the previous match but could not prevent Sri Lanka from reaching a competitive 274 for nine on the opening day of the second cricket Test match here on Wednesday.

The visitors enjoyed distinct advantage for most of the day after putting Sri Lanka in to bat but Mahela Jayawardene scored a fighting century to turn around the fortunes for his team.

Jayawardene's 104 was the highlight of the Sri Lankan batting today after India took wickets at regular intervals to force the hosts on the backfoot.

However, the initiative had slipped away from the Indians by the end of the day as Sri Lanka, six down for 189 with all the mainline batsmen back in the pavillion, added substantial runs down the order with Chaminda Vaas contributing an unbeaten 42.

Zaheer Khan was the most successful of the Indian bowlers taking three wickets for 62 runs while Venkatesh Prasad and Saurav Ganguly took two wickets each.

There were three distinct phases of the game on Wednesday with fortunes fluctuating on both sides. India were jubiliant with the early dismissal of Sanath Jayasuriya, who was run out for three, but Marvan Atapattu and Kumar Sangakkara put up a solid partnership for the second wicket to deny any advantage to them.

Just ahead of lunch, India dismissed both these batsmen and from thereon till the middle of the final session, they were on top though it was during this time that Jayawardene completed his century.

However, just when it seemed that Sri Lankan innings would fold up somewhere around 220, Vaas came up with his cameo knock and with enough support from the tailenders, the hosts looked to have made a strong comeback into the game.

It was really Jayawardene's innings which marked the turn around for Sri Lanka. Coming at number four, Jayawardene displayed both caution and aggression and never looked in trouble during his 144-ball knock.

He played some astonishing pull shots that really forced the Indian bowlers on the defensive. He pulled Harvinder Singh over the mid-wicket region for two fours and treated Prasad similarly whenever the lanky bowler pitched anything short.

Jayawardene reached his half-century with his tenth boundary, a beautiful cover-drive off Ganguly, and continued to frustrate the Indians with his attacking batting

When on 94, Jayawardene guided the ball to third man from where Harvinder Singh sent a wayward throw resulting in five overthrows which took the batsman to 99.

Jayawardene completed his century in style pulling Harbhajan Singh over mid-wicket for a four. However, he was out after adding just one more run, caught by Samir Dighe off Prasad, much to the relief of the Indians. Jayawardene hit 17 boundaries in his sterling knock.

Earlier, it was surprising to see Ganguly opt to field despite having a none-too-formidable attack at his command. But luck smiled for the Indians in the fifth over itself when Jayasuriya got into a terrible mix-up and ran himself out with the Lankan total on 18.

Jayasuriya, whose brilliant century in the first Test was one of the highlights of Sri Lanka's emphatic 10-wicket win, was slightly subdued today with Atapattu, who looked more confident, outscoring him.

The Sri Lankan captain glanced Venkatesh Prasad to fine leg and returned for the second run even while his partner remained stationary in his crease, looking at the ball after completing the first run. Jayasuriya had almost reached the other end when he realised his mistake but by then it was too late. Harvinder Singh threw to wicketkeeper Samir Dighe who passed the ball to Prasad at the non-striker's end and Jayasuriya found himself stranded in the middle.

The cheap dismissal of Jayasuriya, who has an awesome record against India, delighted the tourists but it was short-lived as Atapattu and Sangakkara combined in a fine partnership for the second wicket.

Both of them batted fluently with Sangakkara, the other centurion in the first Test, starting from where he had left off in Galle.

The left-hander ran three twos from the first three balls he faced and maintained the rhythm thereafter hitting a couple of beautiful cover-drives for fours. Atapattu too was very solid and never in any kind of trouble.

The Indian bowling was slightly slack during this period and allowed the batsmen a lot of room to play their shots.

Just when things looked to be drifting away from the Indians, Ganguly himself took the ball and produced results immediately.

His first over was a maiden and in the second, he got the important wicket of Sangakkara who played a tentative shot away from his body and Sadgopan Ramesh took a blinder diving to his left at gully. Sangakkara made 31 and Sri Lanka lost their second wicket on 78.

In the last over before lunch, Zaheer sent a well-directed delivery just outside the off-stump that caught Atapattu in two minds.

The batsman decided to let the ball go at the last moment but failed to remove his bat completely from the line of the ball which crashed on to the stumps after taking the inside edge. Atapattu's 39 came off 79 balls.

The two quick wickets got the Sri Lankans in the defensive mould and both Jayawardene and his partner Russel Arnold, who joined after lunch, found scoring a lot tougher. The first 15 overs in the post-lunch session produced just 31 runs and the Indians took two wickets.

The usually flamboyant Arnold was frustrated by being restricted for too long. Ganguly and Zaheer, who continued into the second session, bowled a very tight line and cramped the batsmen for space.

The disciplined efforts yielded result when Zaheer induced a thick outside edge off Arnold's bat and Dravid took a good catch at first slip. Arnold made five.

Tillekaratne and Jayawardene tried to build a partnership and added 37 runs for the fifth wicket. Tillekaratne was out to a rather ordinary delivery from Prasad after making 10. The batsman went for a cut on a short and wide delivery that did not have much bounce and edged it to wicketkeeper Dighe. Sri Lanka lost their fifth wicket on 138.

However, Jayawardene was going strong at the other end and held the Sri Lankan innings together. After his dismissal, the role was taken over by Vaas whose 42 was his highest against India.

Vaas played like an accomplished batsmen, pulling and hooking with ease. He hit Ganguly for two fours in the same over and took another two from the following over from Zaheer Khan towards the end of the day.

Dilhara Fernando, who made four, hung around for Vaas to take the score past 250. Fernando was the last wicket to fall with the total on 274.