#4 2008 - A Test of resilience
India suffered their third-worst defeat in Tests in the first match against Sri Lanka in the series held at Colombo, where they were thrashed by an innings and 239 runs. Looking to savour some pride and nullify the loss, India entered the 2nd match at Galle with a ferocity to win.
The Indian openers Gambhir and Sehwag piled on 167 runs for the first wicket, before Gambhir departed after a well-made half century. Sehwag carried forward his attack to the opposition by annihilating the bowlers. He scored a stunning 201 off just 231 balls, thus helping India reach 329 in the first innings.
The Lankan top and middle order were consistent yet again, and SL reached a comfortable 250-5, courtesy half centuries from Warnapura, Sangakkara and Jayawardene. But the tail was quickly done away with by the Indian spinners, as SL were bundled out for 292. Harbhajan shone in the Indian camp with 6 wickets to his name.
With the pitch continuing to assist spinners on the 3rd day, India added 200 more to their lead. But they were quickly bundled out for 269 on the next day. Chasing 307 to win with a day and a half to go, SL lost wickets in quick succession, notwithstanding the attack of the pace duo – Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma.
The much-acclaimed spin pair of Harbhajan and Kumble then came on to tighten the strings and cleaned up the tail to fetch India an astounding 170-run win with a day to spare. This victory gave a massive boost to India after their lacklustre performance in the first Test.
India thus levelled the 3-match series 1-1 with one more match to go (which they eventually lost). Despite losing the series 1-2, this win is definitely regarded as one of India’s greatest wins against SL.
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