Herath and Malinga steer Sri Lankan Tigers to commanding position at Galle
In an unexpected turn of events, Rangana Herath and Lasith Malinga were instrumental for Sri Lanka with the bat as the Lankan tigers piled a massive first innings score during the first innings of the rain-plagued Galle Test on Monday. After individual half-centuries from the duo, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 declared their first innings on a score of 520-8. Meanwhile, Sehwag led the Indian chase as World No. 1 Test team made 140-3 at the close of Day 3.
Ishant Sharma, who was struggling with his line and length on the first day, came in strongly on Day 3 as he produced captivating seam bowling at the start of the play. Out of nowhere, Malinga and Herath shocked everyone as they went on to make solid half-centuries a piece which allowed the hosts to tighten the grip on the match. Herath and Malinga batted confidently as they put a stand of 115 runs. Herath was the most impressive of the duo as he produced some stylish shots all over the park. Herath impressed the pundits as well as his fans with several high-quality shots whereas Malinga continued his assault on an intermittent basis.
Herath started his innings confidently and cleared his intentions from the start as he drove two boundaries from the first six balls that he faced. The outstanding shot of the day came when Herath drove a thunderous six off Abhimanyu Mithun. Herath anticipated a short-of-a length delivery as he came out of the crease to hit the ball into the paltry Galle crowd. This shot was a pure master class and one didn’t expect it from a lower-order batsman.
The distinguishable feature of Herath’s unbeaten 80 was the way he paced and composed his innings. Herath counterattacked at the start of the innings as he went for some quick runs but after realising that the Indians had lost their early momentum and with sensible batting from Malinga, he decided to play a secondary role. On the other hand, Malinga batted like a typical lower order batsman as he started slowly but changed the gears later in the innings as he gained confidence after surviving the Indian onslaught. Malinga changed his approach in the latter part of the innings as he decided to take the Indian attack upfront by driving boundaries to Sharma and Ojha as he completed his half-century.
Earlier in the innings, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 that batted confidently as he remained unbeaten on 85 at the close of the day.
Commenting on Sehwag’s significance, Herath said, “We are on top now and if we can get two or three early wickets and bowl them out for under 300 we are in the game. That's our target. There is turn and bounce on the pitch and I am confident I can do something on it. Sehwag is the danger man and we need to get him out early.” http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ajantha-c42419 Mendis, Suraj Randiv and I are trying our best to win matches for our team and country.
The play on fourth day has excited a number of people as India is following on. If Sri Lanka is able to grind some more Indian wickets, then they have a chance of winning this Test with an innings.
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