They say you should never judge a book by its cover. It's wise advice thatholds true for a cricket pitch too. In the first Test between Sri Lanka andIndia at Galle today pundits and players alike were deceived by a green pitchthat was far from the seamers' paradise that it had been purported to be.
Nevertheless, Sri Lanka, who picked four fast bowlers this morning, anunprecedented number in a home Test, and then put India in to bat were savedembarrassment after failing to make early inroads, then they clawed themselvesback into the game with the second new ball.
Sri Lanka had expected greater pace, bounce and movement from the pitch, butit turned out to be devoid of moisture and as flat as the blue Indian Ocean inthe foreground. India started well, adding 79 for the first wicket before endingthe day on 161 for five.
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Sri Lankan coach Dav Whatmore defended the team's strategy afterwards,"We knew that the wicket was dry underneath, but it was a natural reactionto bowl first with the way it appeared this morning. However, it didn't do asmuch as we thought it would do and it was a real battle with Indian batsmenplaying pretty well."
"In the end though I thought we came back pretty well and apart from the20 minutes after lunch it was a good bowling effort," he said. "Wekept the lid on the innings and we can still do really well tomorrow if we havea good morning."
The Indian openers had started circumspectly in the morning, but displayedgreat discipline and left the ball well, as they scored just 16 runs in the rainreduced 20-over morning session.
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The run rate was miserly, but the home side expected wickets. Sri Lanka'snew-ball bowlers Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando did not bowl poorly, butneither did they make best use of sultry conditions, generally bowling too shortfor the ball to swing
After lunch, however, the Indian batsmen realised that, contrary to their ownpre-match suspicions, the wicket was far from treacherous and runs started toflow more freely. The pair added 79 runs for the first wicket.
Ironically, after all the pre-match gossip, it was the spin of Muralitharanthat ended the partnership, Ramesh mistimed a drive and was caught at shortextra for 42 from 127 balls. India though still went into the final session wellplaced on 95 for one.
Sri Lanka clawed themselves back in the final session, taking four wicketsfor 56 runs. Das was the first to go, caught at second slip having been droppedin the previous over. He had scored 40 in four hours.
Rahul Dravid, promoted to number four, became Muralitharan's second victimwhen he used his feet and tried to work the ball through the leg side. The ballballooned up in the air off inside edge and pad and was caught at silly pointfor 12.
Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and Mohammad Kaif, batting solidly at numberthree in his second Test match, added 31 runs. Then, just as the sun started todip behind the horizon, Jayasuriya took the second new ball.
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The result was immediate. Dilhara Fernando clean bowled Kaif with aninswinger and then had Hemang Badani caught behind, as the left hander flashedfrenetically in the last over of the day, to the leave the game evenly poised.
