 Harbhajan, Ishant bowl India to victory in Galle
3rd Aug 2008 23:01 IST
Agencies
India inflicted a crushing 170-run defeat on Sri Lanka on the fourth day of the second Test in Galle today to bounce back into the three-match series, which now stands levelled at 1-1.
After India set Sri Lanka a target of 307, Harbhajan Singh (4/51) and Ishant Sharma (3/20) bundled out the hosts for a paltry 136 on a dramatic fourth day's play which saw as many as 16 wickets fall.
India thus made amends for the Colombo debacle where Sri Lanka pounded them by an innings and 239 runs. The teams now return to Colombo for the series decider beginning on August 8.
For Sri Lanka, Thilan Samaraweera (67 not out) stood tall amid the ruins but barring Tillakratne Dilshan (38), none of the home batsmen offered any resistance.
India earlier could add only 69 runs to their overnight score of 200/4 before they collapsed, their last five wickets falling for just 14 runs in the second essay.
For the hosts, Ajantha Mendis finished with four wickets in the second innings to complete his first match haul of 10 wickets.
After setting the hosts a victory target of 307 runs, India's pace duo of Ishant and Zaheer Khan mowed down the Lankan top order as the pitch in the Galle International Stadium suddenly sprang to life.
In fact, by the time Sri Lanka's score reached double digit in the fourth over, the hosts were without in-form Malinda Warnapura (0), dependable Kumar Sangakkara (5) and batting mainstay and captain Mahela Jayawardene (5).
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