Jaywardena creates double trouble for Indians

The ball struck Rahul Dravid on the left cheek bone after squeezing between the peak and visor of the helmet. Dravid had to be led off the field. Luckily, it did not require any stitches but left Dravid with a bruised and swollen face.

The five-minute break proved a blessing in disguise for Lanka. On resumption, Kumble8217;sfifth ball, was a rank full toss which Jayawardena pulled to the mid-wicket fence. The break did more damage to India, who have now five points as against Sri Lanka8217;s four. The match, as a contest, ended there.

For the record, Lanka were all out for 485. India, after taking a slender 33-run lead, were 59 for the loss of Sadagoppan Ramesh8217;s wicket. For the second consecutive day, bad light and drizzle curtailed play with 18 overs to be bowled.

Leading the side for the most part of the day after Mohammad Azharuddin left the field to take rest because of pain in the ribs8217;, Kumble came into his elements after the tea session.Wicketless despite beating and troubling the batsmen, the Indian vice-captain struck in the second ball of his 52nd over.

Left-hander Chaminda Vaas, trying to drive, edged to slip where finally Laxman pouched it safely. The next ball, Kumble sent back skipper Arjuna Ranatunga, who did not resume his innings this morning with Jayawardena because of hamstring injury, but came tothe crease after the fall of seventh wicket. Ranatunga hit into Ramesh8217;s hands at short-leg.

Kumble, who equalled Jim Laker8217;s haul of 10 wickets in an innings in the Delhi Test, had spoken of his mother, Saroja Krishnaswamy8217;s dream of a hat-trick. He nearly fulfilled that dream also but the next man, Eric Upashantha, survived with the ball just missing the stumps. But then, Kumble did not have a bad day as a captain.

He shuffled the bowlers around and finally, his eighth spell brought the end to Lankan innings. He trapped Upashantha in front and then ended the marathon innings of Jayawardena, who patted back to the bowler. This spell of 3.1-1-5-4 was a just reward for his effort.

But India cannot rue for the lost chances nor did they learn from their mistakes. Today, Jaywardane, who got most of his boundaries through pulls, had another slice of luck before reaching his double century. At 198, he pulled off-spinner Harbhajan Singh uppishly but Venkatesh Prasad was not athletic enough to take theskier.

The batsman got one more life8217;, this time a diving substitute Hrishikesh Kanitkar dropped him at point off Ashish Nehra.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who found turn, did break the morning partnership between Hashan Tillekeratne and Jayawardena. It was thanks to a fine opportunistic stumping by Mongia. It was Mongia8217;s 99th Test victim.