Dravid make India to pass 600 run mark

India piled up 642 in their first innings of the second Test at Kanpur and has Sri Lanka battling hard at 66 for 1 at Stumps on Day 2. The visitors had lost Tillakaratne Dilshan in the very first ball of their innings when he played a flick shot too early off Zaheer Khan to get caught off a leading edge. Paranavitana (30) and Sangakkara (30) have gone past some nervous moments against pace and spin to see the day through for Lanka who had to bat for 24 overs before stumps.

Overnight batsman Rahul Dravid went onto score 144 (from 226 balls with 15 fours and a six) before getting run out at the non-striker’s end for no fault of his. His overnight partner Sachin Tendulkar was the first to depart on the second day after failing in an attemt to loft Ajantha Mendis over mid off. It was in the same over that Tendulkar had taken the bowler for a straight six over his head. Sachin fell having scored 40 from 91 balls. VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh helped themselves to score 60s to put on a century stand for the fifth wicket.

India was charging towards the 700-run mark but were bowled out for less than 650 itself with left arm spinner Rangana Herath producing some late magic. Herath produced a couple of sensational deliveries that came back with the arm instead of turning away from the right hander. Skipper MS Dhoni and Harbhajan were the victims of those deliveries as they got bowled through the bat pad gap. Herath wrapped up the Indian innings with a five-wicket haul.