Mumbai: Sri Lanka would like to believe that they let go of a golden opportunity on Day 1 of the third and final test against India. At the end of play, they had amassed 366 runs on the board but what would bother them is the wickets column which currently shows eight down.

Tillakaratne Dilshan scored his second hundred of the series to give Sri Lanka the early advantage in the match before a late burst of wickets held the Lankans back and brought India back into the game. It was a day of classic test match cricket. We saw good seam bowling from Sreesanth, ball turning square from Harbhajan and then a spirited batting display by Dilshan who struggled his way through the horde of wickets that were falling at the other end to notch up his 11^th test century.

Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara finally won the toss and he had no hesitation in opting to bat first. Despite the pitch having a fair covering of grass on it and an early morning start, meaning that there was a little bit of movement in the air, Zaheer and Sreesanth failed to take advantage of it and were too inconsistent with their lines and lengths. But Tillakaratne Dilshan and Tharanga Paranavitana didn’t fail to take advantage of the wayward bowling, notching up their highest first wicket partnership of the series (93).

Harbhajan got India the first breakthrough just before lunch when Paranavitana (53) tried to drive a perfectly flighted off-spinner but could only manage to edge it to Dravid at first slip. After the opening partnership was broken, the Sri Lankan innings was characterised by batsmen getting decent starts and throwing their wickets away.

Sangakkara (18) was the next to go, caught behind by Dhoni off Pragyan Ojha. Mahela Jayawardene and Dilshan then put together a healthy partnership of 61 runs before Jayawardene (29) couldn’t resist a short delivery from Sreesanth, going for the pull and holding out to Sehwag at deep square leg. 187-3 became 188-4 when Harbhajan cleaned up Thilan Samaraweera in a classic off-spinner’s dismissal. Samaraweera came forward to defend Harbhajan but the ball turned and bounced, getting the inside edge onto the pad and was lapped up by Murali Vijay at short-leg.

Dilshan, however, carried on at one end. He was circumspect when needed and attacked when he got the opportunity. The opener moved from 93 to 99 with a superbly timed six over long-on, one that left Ojha bleeding and the Indians fearing the worst.

Unfortunately for Dilshan, disaster struck soon and in the worst manner possible. Harbhajan bowled slightly short and when Dilshan stretched out to defend, it was clear that the ball had no contact with the bat or glove. However, he was given out by Umpire Nigel Llong. He made 109 off 160 balls which included 10 fours and two towering sixes.

With Dilshan’s wicket in the bag and the score at 262-5, India would have thought that the match was now tilting in their favour but instead Angelo Matthews (86 not out) chose this occasion to show why he is being considered so highly by the Sri Lankan management. The all-rounder in the squad, to give some balance to the line-up, dragged the Lankans closer to the 400 mark which at one point had started to look unachievable. Matthews attacked the most successful bowler for India on the day, Harbhajan Singh, and played as fearlessly as we have seen any Sri Lankan play on this tour.

India picked up three more wickets late in the day to leave Sri Lanka at 366-8. India would be more than happy with the wickets on the board but they would definitely feel that they conceded at least 50-60 more runs than they should have.

Both the teams would like to believe that they are in the driver’s seat at the end of Day 1. If Sri Lanka can extend their total of somewhere close to 500, they would have a very good chance of leveling this series, considering the turn and bounce we saw on the first day and India have to bat last. India, on the other hand, would be looking to wrap up the Sri Lankan innings as quickly as possible on the second day and try to take a huge lead in the first innings so that they don’t have to bat again.

Brief Scores:

Sri Lanka 366-8 (Dilshan 109, Matthews 86*, Harbhajan 4-107) vs India

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