Chasing 307 in the fourth innings is unheard of in these parts of the world, still it’s quite creditable that India finished the platter quickly, rather than playing with their food. Another surprising thing was the pacers being among wickets. Inspired opening spells by pacers Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan broke the Sri Lankan resolve.

Ever since India landed in Galle, skipper Anil Kumble had been insisting that he wasn’t leading a bunch that would be shell-shocked by a defeat. It wasn’t false bravado but he was speaking from past experience. On Sunday, he wore a told-ya expression on his face as he spoke about the experience and quality in the dressing room.

Mendis menace, not a worry

Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene, too, could feel the aggression of his rivals after they were cornered. Though Ajantha Mendis, who finished with a 10-wicket haul in this match, still remains a mystery, India’s positive approach saw them through. As was the case in the first Test, they failed to read Mendis at times but that didn’t stop them from stepping out of the crease whenever they got an opportunity. Rahul Dravid and Dinesh Karthik still have an Achilles heel but they didn’t quite show two left feet when dancing down the track.

Harbhajan Singh proved that the conventional was still in vogue as his regular variations of off-spin gave him a haul that matched the one by the gradually-getting-familiar unconventional bowler Mendis. An arm-ball from around the wicket got rid of Vandort, a regular off-spinner saw Prasanna Jayawardene top-edging a sweep, a full-pitched yorker length delivery had Vaas lbw while Mendis was beaten in flight. Refreshingly, understanding cricket was easier with no middle-finger action or freak wrists that revolve 360 degrees.

... contd.