MUMBAI, December 4: It was slaughter in the sun as Ganguly and Tendulkar put the Lankan bowlers to sword. Sachin, after a scratchy start, blossomed for some breath-taking back-foot shots. Ganguly was sedate at the other end to begin with. It was in the afternoon when the fireworks started as both players struck into the bowling.

After tea, Pushpakumara created chaos by turning the match on its head, bowling fast inswingers with the old ball. Earlier, he had been mediocre. Now he was a handful. Which rases the question: If Pushpakumara could bowl fast and pitch the ball up after tea, why did the Lankan seamers not do so in the morning with a new ball. All three of them bowled too short. They were so intent on getting the two overnight batsmen out to the hook shot that hardly a ball was bowled on a fullish length. I think they were lulled into believing that the success they had in Nagpur against Sidhu and Dravid would pay similar dividends here. In the morning, there was a bit of dew around. Lanka had a new ball. A bowler only needs to induce the batsman into one mistake and it carries catches behind the wicket into play. When a batsman is committed to a front-foot drive and the ball moves late, he cannot stop his shot. With a short ball, he has much more time to watch the ball after it pitches and adjust his shot. Why do you think coaches always tell youngsters/schoolboys to pitch the ball up? They forgot the simple basic rules and wasted the new ball.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.