From the time of W.G. Grace cricket, was known to be a game full of, “glorious uncertainties” and the Sri Lankan team experienced the entire force of that statement in Galle. They were riding on the crest of the wave having destroyed India in the Asia Cup final and then drubbing them by an innings in the opening test of current series, at the S.S.C. grounds.

India displayed tremendous character in reversing their performance after a matter of a four-day break. They got the start they wanted to the game. After winning the all-important toss, they raced to 151 for no wicket in 29 overs by lunch. It was the most number of runs scored in the opening session on the Galle stadium.

The rains that bucketed down during the lunch break favoured the home team. Over two hours of play was lost and in just over an hour after resumption, the Indians had lost four wickets. By lunch the next day, after an extended session by half-an-hour, the Indian innings had folded. Sri Lanka had fought back admirably to restrict the visitors to a score of 329 on a surface that was mostly batsmen friendly.

Sharma’s two quick wickets in the second innings put the lid on Sri Lanka’s hopes on a win at Galle.

One man – Virender Sehwag – showed the way. He found little difficulty in taming Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Kulasekera early. Then settled down and played Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan according to the merit of each delivery. Both he and his opening partner Gautham Gambhir did not spare the loose delivery. The ball sped to the boundary at regular intervals. Sehwag carried on regardless of what took place at the other end. He carried his bat to remain unbeaten on 201. Only the second Indian to do so. The other being the great master, Sunil Gavaskar.

While Sehwag played with ease and collected runs almost at will, the other ten players contributed only 116 runs, of which Gambhir made 56. It was a very special innings. Give him all the credit. The four Sri Lankan bowlers used tried their utmost but the innings belonged to Sehwag.

Behind that majestic batting performance, Sri Lanka’s newly discovered hero Ajantha Mendis claimed his first five wicket haul in test cricket. Only Sehwag was able to read him and play him comfortably. The rest all had difficulty in reading the variations.

Sri Lanka could not gain an advantage through their batsmen who had played so well in the previous test match. Malinda Warnapura and Kumar Sangakkara were associated in a 133 run second wicket stand and whilst they were together the signs were that Sri Lanka would go ahead in the first innings. Once they were separated only a big-hearted knock of 86 from Mahela Jayawardena, kept the innings together. With Harbhajan Singh claiming six scalps, Sri Lanka fell short of India’s score by thirty seven runs.

Once again the inability of the opening bowling combination to separate Sehwag and Gambhir was evident. As area that has to be looked into prior to entering the fray for the third test. Once the first wicket fell at ninety, Mendis and Muralitharan were able to exploit. The runs dried up and the runs yielded through partnerships began to reduce. In the end, the target of 307 did not seem impossible. Mendis bagged ten wickets in the match. This feat was against a line up of the world’s best against spin bowling. It only suggests that the future for Ajantha Mendis is very bright.

Sri Lanka’s woes began in the second over of the innings with the dismissal of Warnapura. Then Sangakkara went and Mahela Jayawardena was out caught off a cut shot for the umpteenth time. Ten runs and three wickets meant the target of 307 was nearly impossible. Two or three batsmen had to come off with a “Sehwag special!”

That did not happen. The Indian bowlers did not let it happen. Ishant Sharma answered his captain’s call. He abstracted menacing bounce off a slow surface to end with splendid figures of 3 for 20, off 15 overs. Harbhajan Singh claimed four more, following Mendis to be the second off spinner to bag ten wickets in the match.

Sri Lanka have concerns over their opening batting pair and opening bowling combination. A quick fix is required. Within a week, the Sri Lankans fell from grace! That has left the series wide open.

• Ranil Abeynaike is a former Sri Lanka cricketer and curator of SSC