da aviator aposta： They say you should never judge a book by its cover
da bet nacional： Charlie Austin14-Aug-2001They say you should never judge a book by its cover. It’s wise advicethat holds true for a cricket pitch too. In the first Test between SriLanka and India in Galle today, pundits and players alike weredeceived by a green pitch that was far from the seamers’ paradise thatit had been purported to be.Nevertheless, Sri Lanka, who picked four fast bowlers this morning, anunprecedented number in a home Test, and then put India in to bat weresaved embarrassment after failing to make early inroads, as theyclawed themselves back into the game with the second new ball.Sri Lanka had expected greater pace, bounce and movement from thepitch, but it turned out to be devoid of moisture and as flat as theblue Indian Ocean in the foreground. India started well, adding 79 forthe first wicket before ending the day on 161 for five.Sri Lankan coach Dav Whatmore defended the team’s strategy. “We knewthat the wicket was dry underneath, but it was a natural reaction tobowl first with the way it appeared this morning. However, it didn’tdo as much as we thought it would do and it was a real battle withIndian batsmen playing pretty well.”In the end though I thought we came back pretty well and apart fromthe 20 minutes after lunch it was a good bowling effort,” he said. “Wekept the lid on the innings and we can still do really well tomorrowif we have a good morning.”The Indian openers had started circumspectly in the morning, butdisplayed great discipline and left the ball well, as they scored just16 runs in the rain reduced 20-over morning session.The run rate was miserly, but the home side expected wickets. SriLanka’s new-ball bowlers Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando did notbowl poorly, but neither did they make best use of sultry conditions,generally bowling too short for the ball to swingAfter lunch, however, the Indian batsmen realised that, contrary totheir own pre-match suspicions, the wicket was far from treacherousand runs started to flow more freely. The pair put on 79 runs for thefirst wicket.Ironically, after all the pre-match gossip, it was the spin ofMuralitharan that ended the partnership, Ramesh mistimed a drive andwas caught at short extra cover for 42 from 127 balls. India thoughstill went into the final session well placed on 95 for one.Sri Lanka clawed themselves back in the final session, taking fourwickets for 56 runs.Das was the first to go, caught at second slip having been dropped inthe previous over. He had scored 40 in four hours.Rahul Dravid, promoted to number four, became Muralitharan’s secondvictim when he used his feet and tried to work the ball through theleg side. The ball ballooned in the air off inside edge and pad andwas caught at silly point for 12.Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and Mohammad Kaif, batting solidly atnumber three in his second Test match, added 31 runs. Then, just asthe sun started to dip behind the horizon, Jayasuriya took the secondnew ball.The results was immediate. Dilhara Fernando clean bowled Kaif with aninswinger and then had Hemang Badani caught behind, as the left handerflashed frenetically in the last over of the day, to the leave thegame evenly poised.
