Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu: Laying a strong foundation
After the first two days of play in the first Test match between Sri
Lanka and India at the Galle International Stadium, the home side are in
a position of strength and could very well force a win well within the
distance.
In a match that has had its share of stoppages due to rain, Sri Lanka
have marched well ahead of India in all departments of the game. After
making India struggle with the bat and dismiss them for 187 with some
disciplined and purposeful bowling, Sri Lanka finished the second day
at 264/3.
On a pitch that has helped the Sri Lankan bowlers, it wasn't going to
be easy to score runs against an Indian attack that consisted of
Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Venkatesh Prasad and Harbhajan Singh.
The Sri Lankan openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu made sure
that they didn't get bogged down as their Indian counterparts did.
The right-left handed batting combination did upset the rhythm of the
Indian bowlers. The two batsmen went about scoring runs freely against
an attack that clearly lacked the direction and purpose.
Jayasuriya was particularly harsh on the bowling as he played his
favourite square cut with élan. They brought up the fifty partnership
off just 15 overs. The fielders slowly got spread out and the batsmen
made them work overtime by picking easy runs on both sides of the wicket.
Jayasuriya smashed two consecutive fours off the bowling of Zaheer
Khan to race to a well-deserved half century. The aggression paid
rich dividends as they blunted the spin of Harbhajan Singh too.
Jayasuriya was quick to pounce on the short-pitched stuff from the off
spinner and smashed boundaries to the point fence.
Atapattu was the more sedate of the two, giving good support to his
skipper. His temperament and technique against balls that did a
little bit in the air and off the wicket was indeed exemplary. The
right-handed stylish batsman hit just the two boundaries in his knock
of 33 before being caught by Hemang Badani off the bowling of
Harbhajan Singh.
The first wicket partnership yielded 101 runs of 27.5 overs, which is
a good scoring rate by any standards in a Test match. The opening stand
literally made the Indian total look too small. Jayasuriya went on to
complete his eighth Test hundred and put Sri Lanka in a commanding
position. There can't be any doubts as to the importance of their
contribution. Jayasuriya and Atapattu take the honours for the Five Star
Partnership of the match so far.
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