Sri Lanka vs India, 2nd Test: Analyzing the P Sara stadium

View of the P Sara stadium

After the dismal show in the first Test against Sri Lanka at the Galle International stadium, Team India will look to make amends in the second Test which start tomorrow at the P Sara stadium in Colombo. With a capacity of 15000 it is comparatively smaller than most stadiums in Sri Lanka; it is half surrounded by lower stands and half by grass banks. Known to assist both spinners and pacers, the Colombo Oval has been a happy hunting ground for both the home and away teams.

The P Sara stadium hosted its first match in 1982 when England toured Sri Lanka and the visitors won that tie by seven wickets. A total of 19 matches have been played at this ground, with 15 drawing out results and the other four resulted in draws. Five matches have been won by the team batting first and nine matches by the team batting second.

Considered as a batsman’s pitch for the first few days it tends to help the bowlers during the last couple of days. The highest total of this surface is 571/9 in 2002 when Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh. Shane Warne has the best bowling figures at the P Sara stadium with figures of 94/7 during the one-off neutral Test between Australia and Pakistan. Stephen Fleming’s 274 not out against Sri Lanka in 2003 is the highest individual score at the ground.

Here’s a look at the last five tests at this ground:

Date	Opposition	Result	Scores	Margin	MOM
Jul 12-14, 2009	Pakistan	SL Won	Pak- 90& 320 SL – 240& 171/3	7 wickets	Fawad Alam(Pak) Nuwan Kulasekara (SL)
Aug 3- 7, 2010	India	India Won	SL- 425& 267 India- 436& 258/5	5 wickets	VVS Laxman (IND)
Apr 3-7, 2012	England	England Won	SL- 275& 278 Eng- 460& 97/2	8 wickets	Kevin Pietersen (Eng)
Nov 25-29, 2012	New Zealand	NZ Won	NZ- 412& 197/9 dec SL- 244& 195	167 runs	Ross Taylor(NZ)
Jun 25-29, 2015	Pakistan	SL Won	Pak- 138& 329 SL- 315& 153/3	7 wickets	Dhamika Prasad(SL)

We see from the last five matches that this pitch always produces a result. It can also be noted that Sri Lanka have won only two of their last five matches on this ground and their defeats have been by a huge margin. A crushing 167 run defeat at the hands of the Black Caps in 2012 and an eight-wicket loss to England during the 2012 season.

The P Sara stadium is also a proven batting surface with the average batting scores on this ground being 312 in the first innings and 334 in the second innings. The pitch also assists the team batting fourth with the highest chased total being, 352/9 by Sri Lanka vs South Africa.

The most successful bowler on this pitch has been the spin wizard Muthaiah Muralitharan with 52 wickets. This is also a happy hunting ground for Kumar Sangakkara, who has scored 855 runs here.

Here’s a look at the 3 Most Prolific Bowlers and Batsmen at the P Sara Oval:

Bowlers

Player	Mts	Overs	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Eco.	S.R.
M.Muralitharan	9	481.2	1238	52	97/7	225/12	2.57	55.5
R. Herath	5	223.4	589	25	103/6	170/9	2.63	53.6
D. Fernando	3	65	235	15	60/5	95/7	3.61	26.0

Batsmen

Player	Mts	Runs	HS	Ave	Balls Faced	S.R.	100’s	50’s
K. Sangakkara	11	855	200*	50.29	1518	56.32	2	4
A.D. Silva	6	668	206	68.60	962	59.25	3	2
T. Samaraweera	6	604	178	75.50	1252	48.24	2	3

Wicket distribution between Pacers and Spinners

No.	Type of Bowler	Wickets
1	Spinners	75
2	Pacers	70

From this wicket distribution, we can see that both spinners and the pace bowlers will get purchase from the pitch, so India needs to be wary of both Herath and Kaushal who troubled them in the second innings. India should try and play an extra seamer instead of the third spinner which might help their cause. The visitors also need to strengthen their batting and not get rattled under pressure. And last but not the least, India needs to be careful about Kumar Sangakkara, as he will be playing his final match and would want to exit on a winning note.

Posters and placards for Sangakkara's farewell being stacked up at P Sara stadium. It is informed Test is a sell-out pic.twitter.com/mIqH82PwdH

— Indian Cricket Team (@IndiaCricNews) August 19, 2015