Indians torpedoed on minefield pitch

Rangana Herath and Tharindu Kaushal bowled Sri Lanka to an improbable 63 run win on the fourth day of the first cricket Test against India at the Galle International Stadium yesterday.

Sri Lanka who were down in the dumps on the third day afternoon rose like a phoenix from the ashes to turn the tide while defending a meagre target of 175 runs.

Herath and Kaushal bowled admirably well as the former sent the Indian top order reeling back as he trapped nightwatchman Ishant Sharma and also accounted for the other Sharma (Rohit) and suddenly things began to go wrong for India.

Kaushal had Virat Kohli caught by Kaushal Silva at forward short-leg and then took a sprawling catch off his own bowling to dismiss Shikhar Dhawan as the game furiously swung further towards Sri Lanka.

Dhawan never tried to accelerate the score and at one stage took fifty two minutes to make a run. In all he took 119 minutes facing 83 deliveries for his 28 which put the Sri Lankan bowlers on top and made the rest of the Indian batsmen struggle for runs.

In chasing the victory target of 176 runs the Indian batting never looked convincing from the start as the spin duo proved themselves unplayable on a wicket that increasingly took spin.

Herath who had a barren run in his last two Tests (against Pakistan) and went wicket-less in the first innings took 7 for 48 to re-establish his place in the side while off spinner Kaushal too bowled exceptionally well to have figures of 3 for 47 in his 17.5 over spell.

India started shakily and continued to do so as they were inordinately defensive while the Sri Lanka bowlers never gave anything away.