Plucky Lankans edge ahead

Kolkata, Yesterday seemed an eternity ago, such was the change in the conditions. The weather turned, the conditions eased — the sun turned bright and the pitch brownish, batting became a safer profession.
India’s top-order had been hobbled by extremely tough conditions. For them, the ball darted in or out unpredictably after pitching — after 26 overs, India were 50/5, scoring at less than two an over. Today was easier — India’s tail managed to smash 50 runs in the last 10 overs. Such is the effect of rain, moisture, grass in this sport. It was a changed pitch today, tough but not lethal.
Sri Lanka got to bat 45.4 overs in the best conditions of this match. Two of their batsmen, Lahiru Thirimanne and Angelo Mathews, made 50s and had a 99-run stand, a staggeringly high number in the context of the game. At 165/4, Sri Lanka are on top.
SL take their chances
Thirimanne and Mathews joined forces after Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed the two openers in six deliveries. At 34/2, with the ball seaming and bouncing sharply, and two fresh batsmen in, Sri Lanka were in trouble. The two, however, remained remarkably calm; Mathews said later that they knew at any time, a ball could come that just could not be defended — a bullet with his name on it. Yet, the two didn’t panic, played regular cricket shots, even if they got beaten again and again.
They also got very lucky, especially Thirimanne, dropped on 27 at first slip by Shikhar Dhawan, possibly the simplest catch spilled by Dhawan in cricket.
The Lankans got lucky on umpteenth occasions also when the ball beat the bat by millimetres, or when the ball was edged and flew between or over the slips. The quick start by the openers made Virat Kohli opt for defensive outfielders, and the bowlers often had only two or three slips and a gully as close catchers. Frustratingly for the pacemen, the ball beat the slips after flying off the bat. Mohammed Shami suffered the most: Three times he got Mathews to edge the ball, which then flew perfectly between the men in the slips.
Forgetfulness
Bhuvneshwar too troubled the batsmen with movement both in air and off the surface, and beat the outside edge of the bat countless times. “You need to forget the previous ball,” Mathews said later. “You’re bound to get a good ball every over. You wait for the loose ball and then score.”
Beaten but not broken, Thirimanne and Mathews benefited from this art of wilful forgetfulness, played an identical number of balls (94 each), hit eight fours each and made 51 and 52, respectively.
The two were dismissed by the same bowler, Umesh Yadav, five runs apart from each other. The next men in, Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella, suffered a close inquisition by Yadav and Shami. They survived.
Overall, Sri Lanka had a very good day. India would scrutinise their performance with a frown — the pacers were often wayward in the first spell, giving batsmen opportunities to score on both sides of the wicket. They bowled shorter than the perfect length, and Wriddhiman Saha frequently collected the ball at chest or face height.
With 165 overs lost, can one of the two teams win this game? Well, the wicket will reward the seamers who keep the ball up and make it move off the pitch. But on a beautiful day today, only 72 overs were bowled. The sun sets early in the East: 145 overs over the next two days may not be enough to produce a winner. Especially as the forecast says there will be no rain and lots of shine.