Cricket Update: India Vs Sri Lanka- 3rd Test match- Day 5 Review, India defeat Sri Lanka
Consistent Laxman helped team India to overpower a struggling Sri Lankan side in the fifth day of the third and final test match at P Sara, Oval, Colombo.
India emerged as a victorious team at the end of the day, chasing the fourth highest total ever in their Test cricket history. The highlight of the day was a tremendous knock by star middle order batsman V.V.S Laxman who stepped out by leading his side in front. Laxman, who made an unbeaten 103, played intelligently throughout his innings and read every delivery to perfection. He once again proved to be the backbone for Indian team as he did in the first innings, finding gaps in the field and did his job with flawlessness.
Laxman’s century came out at a time when India was in a spite of a bother and needed somebody to carry out the inning and bat through it. He was well supported on the other hand by the all time best Sachin Tendulkar, who guided him well, as per the set game plan. Both of them managed to take easy singles in the widely spread field by Kumar Sangakarra, with more than fifty percent of the total partnership score coming in singles and doubles. The plan clearly was to put pressure on the hosts, by making easy runs and to frustrate them in which Indian proved to be good. A dropped catch, a forward short leg gave the little master more confidence to place his innings in an undefeatable manner.
Even after his dismissal, Raina did not let the inning’s moment to break and carried the mission ahead. He took the charge of the innings, being the in-form batsmen and smashed balls to all corners of the ground. Raina with a lovely batting display has once again not only proved to be a great asset for Indian cricket team but has also fixed his place in their Test team, thus making the deciding for the Board of Cricket Control in India tough when it comes to team’s selection. His valuable 41 runs innings included four marvellous boundaries and a massive six.
According to the Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, it was Laxman who held the key for today’s game. He rated his innings as a very special one despite of the fact that he had a struggling back but he did not let the pressure come at him and affect his batting performance.
The bowling department for Sri Lanka did not click the way, Sangakarra might have expected before the start of the day. Malinga tend to bowled much shorter in the innings, thus losing his focus and going off the track. It was an unusual scenario for him to go off wicket less in a game, where his efforts were needed the most by Sri Lankan cricket team. Ajantha Mendis, who entertained the crowd with the bat in second innings by scoring a fighting 79 runs, failed to impress with the ball by throwing deliveries full too much and not hitting the deck as required. The pick of the bowlers was the young athletic spinner Suraj Randiv, 6 feet tall; Randiv was a source of concern for the Indian batsmen as the entered the deciding day of the third test match. He was able to get rid of night-watchman Ishant Sharma but despite of extensive bowling display from a high angle, could not act as a partnership breaker, which lead India home with five wickets remaining in the hut.
Sri Lanka have truly found dynamite in terms of young Suraj Randiv. The 25 years old, Randiv with his passionate bowling made Indian batsmen suffer and struggle with his off break deliveries. Levelling the series to a draw for India surely means that both batsmen and bowlers had their home done well. Things had gone for India’s way dominantly in the game but could easily have deteriorated, had the batsmen lost their patience in the fourth innings.
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