Another day of relentless batting saw two Sri Lankan batsmen achieving milestones, even as India negotiated the final hour before the end of the second day's play in the second Test at the SSC in Colombo.
kumar sangakkara double century
The Sri Lankan captain, Kumar Sangakkara, made the most of his batting at the crease, growing in stature from a century to his seventh Test double century. Masterminding his own aura, Mahela Jayawardene was as enigmatic with the bat, yielding 174 runs in a soul destroying batting, that would perhaps be on the line of killing someone softly. Sublime has been a term used often for their batting, and the word would be no less appropriate nor degenerative in value for using it again.
What it did mean was that India were going to have to merely grind it out and wait till Sri Lanka had their fill. That thought would take a long time, precisely till a hour before the close of day, when upon Jayawardene's dismissal, the Sri Lankans declared on 642/4 - Thilan Samaraweera unbeaten on seventy-six, throwing India into a position not similar from the one they were propositioned with in the first Test.
Virender Sehwag did not hold back. In fact, he continued to live dangerously, caring little for the situation but perhaps looking to get on top of the hosts who have enjoyed two whole days of real dominance. Sehwag's daredevilry earned him sixty-four runs from sixty-three balls, Murali Vijay holding his own at the other end before the day closed out with India batting on ninety-five for no loss.
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