Cricket: Sidhu leads Indian fightback

Sri Lanka 369 India 91 for 0

India fought back on the second day of the first Test in Mohali yesterday by restricting Sri Lanka to a first innings of 369 and then scoring 90 without loss in reply. Navjot Sidhu, on 47, and Nayan Mongia, 41, survived a shaky start against a hostile spell from the left-arm quick bowler Chaminda Vaas.

Earlier, the pace pair of Javagal Srinath and Abey Kuruvilla claimed four wickets each to curtail the Sri Lankan innings that had threatened to reach huge proportions when they resumed on 280 for 4.

Srinath claimed 4 for 92 as Sri Lanka squandered a commanding position, losing five wickets for the addition of 54 runs as the Indian bowlers made the most of a fresh track which afforded them some pace and bounce.

Kuruvilla took three wickets in the morning session and finished with 4 for 88. Srinath showed he had lost none of his speed following a shoulder surgery and began the Sri Lankan slide by dismissing the visiting captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, for 30.

The last pair, Kumara Dharmasena and Sajeewa de Silva, frustrated the Indian bowlers for 50 minutes after lunch. They added 36 before Srinath returned to clean bowl De Silva for six.

India won toss

SRI LANKA - First Innings

(Overnight: 280 for 4)

*A Ranatunga c Chauhan b Srinath 30

H P Tillakaratne c Dravid b Kumble 14

S K L De Silva b Kuruvilla .5

H D P K Dharmasena not out 37

W P U J C Vaas b Kuruvilla 2

M Muralitharan c Srinath b Kuruvilla 10

S C De Silva b Srinath 6

Extras (lb10, nb11, b4) 25

Total (125.2 overs) 369

Fall (cont): 5-301, 6-307, 7-307, 8-313, 9-333.

Bowling: Srinath 27.2-4-92-4; Kuruvilla 27-7-88-4 (nb3); Mohanty 19-1- 57-0; Kumble 34-9-81-2; Ganguly 2-2-0-0; Chauhan 16-2-34-0.

INDIA - First Innings

N S Sidhu not out 47

N R Mongia not out 41

Extras (lb1, w2) 3

Total (53 overs) 91

To bat: *S R Tendulkar, S C Ganguly, R S Dravid, M Azharuddin, A Kumble, J Srinath, R K Chauhan, A Kuruvilla, D Mohanty.

Bowling (to date): Vaas 11-5-17-0; Jayasuriya 6-3-7-0; Muralitharan 15- 8-28-0; S C De Silva 10-3-25-0; Dharmasena 11-6-13-0.

Umpires: S Venkataraghavan (Ind) and S A Bucknor (WI).