Ganguly, Dravid lift India to victory in second Test
Ganguly, Dravid lift India to victory in second Test
KANDY, Sri Lanka (AFP): Sourav Ganguly struck timely form with an unbeaten 98 as India overwhelmed Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Test here on Saturday to square the three-match series.
The embattled Indian captain crossed 50 for the first time in 14 innings and Rahul Dravid made 75 to steer the injury-hit tourists past the victory target of 264 just before tea on the fourth day.
Ganguly narrowly missed his eighth Test century when Mohammad Kaif flicked Chaminda Vaas to fine-leg for the winning boundary.
The rivals now travel to Colombo where the third and decisive Test starts at the Sinhalese sports club (SSC) ground on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka won the first Test at Galle by 10 wickets last week.
It was a remarkable win by India, who were without five top players nursing injuries: master batsman Sachin Tendulkar, star number three Venkatsai Laxman, bowling spearheads Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble and rising left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra.
As Indian celebrated, the jinx of Kandy returned to haunt the Sri Lankans, who succumbed to their third consecutive defeat at the Asgiriya stadium.
In 12 Tests at his hill resort, Sri Lanka have lost seven, drawn three and won just two.
While Ganguly provided the finishing touches, Dravid was the focal point of India's match-winning display.
The Indian vice-captain added 61 runs for the second wicket with opener Sadagopan Ramesh and 91 for the third with Ganguly to quash Sri Lanka's hopes.
In London, Shane Warne took two early wickets to take his tally to 399 test victims as England, replying to Australia's 641 for four declared, fought back to reach 158 for three at lunch on the third day of the final test.
Steve Waugh shrugged off the pain as he and his twin Mark completed centuries on the second day of the fifth and final Ashes test to help Australia declare their first innings on 641 for four on Friday.
On Saturday, England captain Nasser Hussain led the recovery with an increasingly fluent innings, reaching 49 not out at the interval after adding 54 with Mark Ramprakash, who was on 12.
Warne, opening the bowling and reeling off an unbroken spell of 13 overs, removed Marcus Trescothick with the fifth ball of the day and Mark Butcher in his seventh over, moving to the brink of becoming only the sixth bowler in test history to take 400 wickets.
Hussain flicked his first ball to the mid-wicket boundary to complete an eventful opening over that produced nine runs. Trescothick made 55 off 57 balls, including 11 fours.