India face herculean task to save first Test

Share

Galle: India were faced with a daunting task of saving the first Test after spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan scalped six wickets in his last match to put Sri Lanka within sniffing distance of a victory on Wednesday.

Muralitharan claimed of 5/63 in the first innings and added another wicket in the second to be just two short of the 800-mark as India were skittled out for 276 in their first innings in response to the home team's total of 520/8 declared.

Asked to follow on, the Indians were struggling at 181/5 at close on an eventful penultimate day, still needing 63 runs to avoid the embarrassment of an innings defeat.

The visitors lost Gautam Gambhir (0) and first innings centurion Virender Sehwag (31) early but the experienced duo of Rahul Dravid (44) and Sachin Tendulkar (84) steadied the innings to some extent with a 119-run partnership.

Image: AP

Text: PTI