Sri Lanka, India 2nd Test
Kumble leads India to victory with 10 scalps

NEW DELHI—Anil Kumble was once again among the wickets as India achieved a resounding 188-run victory over Sri Lanka on the final day of the second Test at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground here on Wednesday. The 35-year-old leg-spinner bagged four second innings wickets to finish with his eighth 10-wicket haul in Tests. He helped dismiss Sri Lanka for 247 after they had been set a daunting 436-run target.
Kumble took two of those wickets Wednesday as Sri Lanka, resuming on 125-3, folded up 41 minutes after lunch with Mahela Jayawardene (67) the only one to offer resistence on the final day. “Kumble was outstanding in the match but I thought it was a very good overall team effort,” said Indian captain Rahul Dravid, whose side now have a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series. “This match will always remain a memorable one because of the victory and also because Sachin (Tendulkar) set a world record of 35 Test centuries here,” he added.
Tendulkar top-scored in the match with 109 in the first innings to pass compatriot Sunil Gavaskar in the list of century-makers in Tests. Kumble, who bagged all 10 wickets in a Test innings against Pakistan here in 1999, rekindled that memory with another fine performance. He bowled Tillakaratne Dilshan (32) in the first session and followed it up in the second with the scalp of Chaminda Vaas (17) who was caught by Harbhajan Singh at mid-wicket while trying to play a pull shot. “This has been a very good win but all credit to our batsmen for setting it up for the bowlers,” said Kumble, who took 4-85 in the second innings to finish with a match haul of 10-157.
“I was at my usual job of pegging away at the batsman and knew it was a matter of time before we won”. Kumble was supported well by off-spinner Harbhajan who chipped in with two wickets Wednesday to finish with 3-70. Harbhajan removed a determined Jayawardene, who batted for 205 minutes in a bid to prolong the inevitable. He struck seven fours off 164 balls before being caught at short-leg by Gautam Gambhir. Harbhajan also took the wicket of last man Muttiah Muralitharan as the batsman heaved the ball high in the air for wicketkeeper Mahendra Dhoni to take an easy catch. The fall of Muralitharan’s wicket trigered victory celebrations among the Indian players. It was their sixth consecutive win at the venue.
Sri Lankan skipper Marvan Atapattu said his team had done well in patches and could lift themselves for the third and final match to be played in Ahmedabad from Sunday. The first rain-hit Test was drawn. “We had our positives like Jayawardene’s knock in the second innings and Muralitharan’s bowling and hope to do better in the next match,” said Atapattu. “The pitch was a good one unlike what we thought before the match, when we were fearing it would not be a sporting one”. Sri Lanka have yet to win a Test in India.—Agencies