Plays of the Day: India v http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758, 2nd Test match, Day Four
The fourth day of the second Test match between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 and Sri Lanka at the SSC in Colombo saw the Indians bat on to get past the Sri Lankan total of 642. It was a day when many records fell, but most importantly, the game was almost consigned to a draw even before the game resumes on the fifth and the final day.
Tendulkar gets to his fifth of the career:
Sachin Tendulkar may have scored 48 centuries in his Test career, which is nine more than the next best, but when it comes to double-centuries, he had only four to his name at the start of this game. Today, he got to his fifth double-century in his Test career when he paddled one from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ajantha-c42419 Mendis down to the fine-leg. The helmet was removed, the Gods were thanked and a quiet acknowledgement to the crowd and the dressing room later, he marked his guard to face the next delivery!
His previous four double-centuries have come against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rahul-c83321 Dravid declared the innings closed.
...and Raina joins the annals:
Suresh Raina had played 98 ODIs before he got his first chance at the five-day format level. And boy, did he make it count here. Raina, who was unbeaten on 66 overnight, went on to smash his maiden Test match hundred in his first ever Test innings to join eight other Indian cricketers who have done so in 77 years of cricket that the country has played.
The list includes the likes of Sourav Ganguly, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Azharuddin-c76823, Surinder Amarnath and Praveen Amre.
There were three other Indians who scored a century on Test debut, but it was in the second innings of the game; Lala Amarnath (father of the aforementioned Surinder), http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Vishwanath-c95479.
Interestingly, Raina was selected in the game due to Yuvraj Singh’s illness. What remains to be seen is whether the team management decide to get Yuvraj back for the third Test match if he's fit or retain Raina.
The Run Fest and another record:
Sri Lanka had scored 642 in the first innings and when India went on to get to 600 as well, it became only the fourth occasion when both sides have scored more than 600 in the same game. To give you a perspective, nearly 2000 Test matches have been played since 1877 and it has been managed only four times!
What is unsurprising is that two of those four occasions have happened in the last 18 months.
Speaking of high scores, the game has already seen 1311 runs being scored in the game, and with around 80 overs possible on the last day, one can easily assume that another 250-300 will be scored. This will mean that a total number of runs in this game could go up to 1600. This should put this Test match in the list of top-25 games with the highest aggregate of runs scored. Have we forgotten that the bowlers also deserve some records?
And a second double-centurion:
As if Tendulkar’s double-century was not enough, debutant Suraj Raniv joined the record books by becoming the 27th individual to concede more than 200 runs in an innings. This was also the most number of runs conceded in an innings by a debutant. Fortunately for Randiv, he is in no danger of breaking the record of the most number of runs conceded in an innings ever. That stands at 298 and for the last wicket partnership of Pragyan Ojha and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ishant-Sharma-c64566 to add more 150 runs for the 10th wicket will need a miracle.
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