Sri lanka vs. India: Fifth Day Update - http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 276 & 292/8
As Muttiah Muralitheran continued to weave his magic even in the last match of a glittering test career, the Indians slumped towards an ignominious defeat on the last day of the first test match at the Galle International stadium in Galle.
Skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mahendra-Singh-Dhoni-c73820 was the first to go on the final day as the tourists resumed playing ahead of their overnight score of 181 for 5, the right-hander was cleaned up by a superb in swinging Yorker that rattled the stumps, ricocheting of his pads.
Harbhajjan Singh soon became the 799th wicket for Murali; the off-spinner was dismissed over an LBW, as he was attempting a big sweep after facing a torrid time during the entire over from the magician from Kandy.
Laxman was joined by debutant fast bowler Mithun, the fast bowler struck some great looking fours, frustrating the Sri Lankan bowlers and denying Murali’s quest for his 800th test scalp.
The two added 49 runs in their partnership for the eighth wicket, taking the score past the Sri Lankan’s ensuring that the hosts bat again.
The crowd, including the Muralitheran clan, waited with bated breadth to see if the champion would get the magical eighth hundred scalp before the lunch interval. Their anticipation grew more and more as the duo of Laxman and Mithun grinded the hosts with their 'back against the wall' fight back.
After defying the bowlers for more than an hour Mithun fell to Malinga, whose boomerang action brought the ball late into the batsman, trapping right in front of the stumps.
Mithun scored 25 off 59 balls, striking five fours, and handing Malinga his third, 5 wicket haul in test cricket, in conditions ideally suited for his reverse swing. The wicket was also Malinga’s 98th in test cricket.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ishant-Sharma-c64566 also played out Murali with relative ease, as Laxman attempted to farm the strike in a tense situation. In a bid to break the deadlock the Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara took the second new ball on the eve of lunch.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/VVS-Laxman-c2772 meanwhile completed his 44th test half century; the Hyderabadi was a model of patience as he tried his best to give the fight to the rampant hosts. The drama continued as Sharma survived a stumping appeal of Murali with barely ten minutes left in the opening session of play.
India took lunch with a lead of 48 runs over the hosts, and if the pair of Laxman and Sharma prolong their stay at wicket they might be able to conjure a tricky lead for the hosts, caught in Murali 800 frenzy.
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