Virender Sehwag survived his own ambitious mindset, and Gautam Gambhir looked solid, as India played out 16 of a minimum 134 overs Sri Lanka gave them to survive. The Sri Lankan fast bowlers failed to replicate the swing they got in the first innings, and apart from a few moments of indiscretion from Sehwag it seemed a tall order to get 10 more wickets. Spin was introduced half an hour before the tea interval, but both the openers negotiated the period well.
India could very easily have lost Sehwag on more than one occasion but were fortunate. The fourth ball of the innings Sehwag went to drive a wide one, and edged. It was a no-ball, and the benefit of doubt could be given there, but in the next over he went hard at a Dammika Prasad delivery that held its line. The edge went between the Jayawardenes behind the stumps, Prasanna diving in front of Mahela and the ball flying in between. One more inside edge later, Sehwag tightened up his game, leaving balls outside off, defending with soft hands. In other words, he started to look more like Gambhir, who desisted from playing too far outside off, kept the big shots out and rotated the strike.
The two ran quick singles, too, but in the 10th over, Sehwag took a step too far. Off the back foot he punched Prasad powerfully straight to Muttiah Muralitharan at mid-on and ran blindly. He was not even in the frame when the attempt at the stumps passed safely by. It was perhaps symbolic that the ball should go to Murali soon: Rangana Herath hadn't created much impression in his two overs then.
Murali's third over, and the last before tea, almost got Sehwag again. The batsman went to cut a ball that proved to be too full, and the edge flew wide of Mahela Jayawardene. A run-rate of close to five an over, and nine boundaries in 16 overs, didn't suggest a team trying to save a Test, but it did work in that Kumar Sangakkara made the same mistake as MS Dhoni and set defensive fields too soon. Twenty-seven singles came as a result.
At least India were not going through the motions, as they had been doing more than two preceding sessions. They started the day, waiting, nay hoping, for a declaration but the Jayawardenes accumulated ruthlessly, scoring at close to four an over on the fourth morning, almost making sure Sri Lanka would not have to bat again. Along the way Prasanna went past 150, his second Test century, Sri Lanka registered the highest total in India, Mahela reached 250 in the innings and 9000 Test runs, and their 351-run partnership was the new world record for sixth wicket.
India took the new ball as soon as it was due, but the going seemed all too easy for the batsmen. Without taking risks, they kept getting boundaries, as the bowlers again failed to hit the same areas consistently. Zaheer Khan bowled off a shorter run, Ishant Sharma's pace wasn't up there - an edge that he induced when Prasanna was on 99 died on the keeper - and although the field setting suggested India wanted to stop the singles, the boundaries made up for it.
The game stayed on auto-pilot until the declaration came 11.4 overs into the second session. India had spent more than a day without a wicket, and looked it. The Jayawardenes didn't have to resort to frenetic hitting to go past their milestones. Mahela's innings - although never challenged by India once he got in on the second evening - stood out for how he maintained focus and didn't make any outright mistake until he finally missed an attempt at a big shot against Amit Mishra, who toiled for 58 overs for that lone success. A double-century came for Mishra, while Harbhajan came up just short, going for 189 in his 48.4 overs. India, in scoring 426 in their first innings, hit 59 fours and two sixes; Sri Lanka 71 fours and two sixes in 760. The statistic showed the difference in mindset of both teams when they came out to field.
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