2nd Test: India Equal the Series! Sehwag and Bhajji did the Trick!

Trailing 0-1 in the test series against the hosts Sri Lanka, India pulled off a sensational win in the 2nd test to equal the series. Sehwag and Gambhir laid the foundation through the first wicket partnership in the first innings, handling both Mendis and Muralitharan.

Sehwag scored a wonderful double century and helped India to put a decent total on the board. Without his double century, India would have struggled to cross 200.

The famous four once again failed miserably. Dravid out for 2 to Mendis, Sachin got out for 5, Ganguly for a duck, and Laxman for 39. India were 167 for no loss and lost Gambhir for 56. From 167 for 1, India slumpped to 178 for 4. Mendis picked 6 wickets.

Good bowling by Harbhajan Singh helped India to gain 37 runs lead in the first innings. He took 6 wickets, dismissing top order batsmen. Warnapura, Sangakkara and Skipper Jayawardane crossed 50.

Having a good chance in the match, India did not utilized it well in the 2nd innings. India had all the time in the world to score more runs in the 2nd innings which started on Day 3. Gambhir and Sehwag once again gave a good start to India, but India was dismissed for 269.

Chasing 307, Sri Lanka lost the first three wickets including skipper Jayawardane with 10 on the board. Ishanth picked 2 wickets and Zaheer picked 1. At lunch on Day 4, Sri Lanka were 24 for 3. Samaraweera provided some resistence and scored 68 not out. He along with Dilshan added 76 for the 5th wicket. There was a little threat, but once that partnership was broken by Ishanth Sharma, the remaining 5 wickets fell for 23 runs in 11.4 overs. Though Bhajji picked 10 wickets in the match, Sehwag's 201 not out in first innings and 50 in the 2nd innings won him the man of the match award.

Match: 2nd Test
Venue: Galle
Date: July 31-August 4, 2008
Teams: Sri Lanka and India
Captains: DPMD Jayawardene and A Kumble
Toss: India won the toss and decided to bat
Result: India won by 170 runs
Series: Level at 1-1
Man of the Match: V Sehwag off India
Score:

India 1st Innings 329 all out in 82 overs (G Gambhir 56, V Sehwag 201 not out, R Dravid 2, SR Tendulkar 5, SC Ganguly 0, VVS Laxman 39, KD Karthik 7, A Kumble 4, Harbhajan Singh 1, Z Khan 2, I Sharma 0, Extras-12 (b 1, lb 4, w 7), WPUJC Vaas 2 for 74, KMDN Kulasekara 0 for 40, BAW Mendis 6 for 117, M Muralitharan 2 for 93)

Sri Lanka 1st Innings 292 all out in 93.3 overs (MG Vandort 4, BSM Warnapura 66, KC Sangakkara 68, DPMD Jayawardene 86, TT Samaraweera 14, TM Dilshan 0, HAPW Jayawardene 24, WPUJC Vaas 1, KMDN Kulasekara 5 not out, BAW Mendis 0, M Muralitharan 0, Extras-24 (b 10, lb 12, nb 2), Z Khan 1 for 51, I Sharma 0 for 36, A Kumble 3 for 81, Harbhajan Singh 6 for 102)

India 2nd Innings (lead by 37 runs) 269 all out in 76.2 overs (G Gambhir 74, V Sehwag 50, R Dravid 44, SR Tendulkar 31, SC Ganguly 16, VVS Laxman 13, KD Karthik 20, A Kumble 2, Harbhajan Singh 11, I Sharma 0, Z Khan 1 not out, Extras-7 (lb 7), WPUJC Vaas 2 for 32, KMDN Kulasekara 0 for 31, M Muralitharan 3 for 107, BAW Mendis 4 for 92)

beat Sri Lanka 2nd Innings (307 to win) 136 all out in 47.3 overs (MG Vandort 10, BSM Warnapura 0, KC Sangakkara 1, DPMD Jayawardene 5, TT Samaraweera 67 not out, TM Dilshan 38, HAPW Jayawardene 4, WPUJC Vaas 0, KMDN Kulasekara 1, BAW Mendis 2, M Muralitharan 0, Extras-8 (b 4, lb 2, nb 2), Z Khan 1 for 18, I Sharma 3 for 20, A Kumble 2 for 41, Harbhajan Singh 4 for 51)