Tame finish to Colombo Test

Sangakkara makes sure of draw with unbeaten 42 on day five

Last updated: 30th July 2010  

Tame finish to Colombo Test

Sangakkara: Saw his side through to safety on the final day

Second Test Match
Colombo - Day Five
Sri Lanka 642-4 dec (K C Sangakkara 219, D P M D Jayawardene 174, N T Paranavitana 100, T T Samaraweera 76 no, T M Dilshan 54) & 129-3 v India 707 (S R Tendulkar 203, S K Raina 120, G Gambhir 99, M S Dhoni 76, M K Vijay 58, B A W Mendis 4-172)
Sri Lanka drew with India

Related links

Teams

Also see

Sri Lanka made sure there was no late drama on the fifth day in Colombo as the second Test against India petered out to a tame draw.

Skipper Kumar Sangakkara made 42 not out to steer his side to safety, the hosts reaching 129-3 when the two teams decided to shake hands.

India had finally been bowled out for 707 in their first innings near the end of the morning session, giving them a narrow first-innings lead of 65.

However they simply didn't have enough time to force a positive outcome, meaning Sri Lanka remain 1-0 up in the series with one Test to play.

Painful numbers

The wicket at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground certainly didn't help any bowler on display; only 17 wickets fell throughout the five days.

In contrast batsmen flourished. The two teams combined for an astonishing 1,478 runs. India's total was the highest made by a visiting team in Sri Lanka and was only 19 runs short of their Test record of 726-9 declared, made against the same opposition on home soil last year.

The tourists had resumed in the morning on 669-9 and, as if to prove just how easy batting was, the last-wicket pair added a further 38 runs.

Dilhara Fernando finally wrapped things up when he had Ishant Sharma caught by Sangakkara for 27, leaving Pragyan Ojha unbeaten on 18.

Sri Lanka's opening duo of Tillakaratne Dilshan and Tharanga Paranavitana nearly wiped out the deficit before India struck with the score on 50.

Dilshan, who had taken 3-56 with his part-time off-spin, was the first to go having made 14, the opener pulling Abhimanyu Mithun straight to Sharma at short mid-wicket.

Further joy

Paranavitana went 23 runs later - Harbhajan Singh getting him caught at slip by VVS Laxman for 34 - and there was further joy for India when Mahela Jayawardene (five) was trapped leg before by Virender Sehwag.

However, fresh off a double century in his side's first innings, Sangakkara hit five fours in a 114-ball knock that steered Sri Lanka to safety.

Thilan Samaraweera was alongside his captain on 10 not out when the bowlers were put out of their misery an hour before the scheduled close.

The teams now take the short journey to the P Sara Oval in Colombo for the final match of the series, which gets underway on Tuesday.

Click Here for Your Free Bet