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India pile up huge total

Celebrating century in first innings
Image: Dravid: 28th Test century

Rahul Dravid hit 144 as India amassed 642 in their first innings against Sri Lanka in Kanpur. The tourists closed at 66-1 in reply.

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Dravid bags second ton of series, Sri Lanka close day two 576 adrift

Second Test Match
Kanpur
India 642 (G Gambhir 167, R Dravid 144, V Sehwag 131, Yuvraj Singh 67, V V S Laxman 63, H M R K B Herath 5-121) v Sri Lanka 66-1 Sri Lanka reached 66-1 in response to India's first innings of 642 at stumps on day two of the second Test in Kanpur. After spending the first five sessions of the match chasing leather in the field at Green Park, the tourists lost Tillakaratne Dilshan to the first ball of their reply. Dilshan somehow managed to get a leading edge onto a Zaheer Khan delivery that was heading well down the leg-side, giving Pragyan Ojha a simple catch at mid-on. But second-wicket pair Tharanga Paranavitana (30no) and Kumar Sangakkara (30no) saw Sri Lanka through 24 overs to the close without further loss, although they remain 576 behind.

Runs flow

Rahul Dravid had earlier become the third centurion of India's first innings as the home side advanced from 417-2 to 642 all out shortly after the tea interval. Dravid, resuming on 85, brought up to his 28th Test hundred in the morning session and, in the process, moved above Allan Border into fourth place on the all-time list of run scorers Sachin Tendulkar (40) was first to depart in the 13th over of the day, caught by Thilan Samaraweera at wide mid-off attempting to hit Ajantha Mendis over the top. Sri Lanka finally removed Dravid for 144, albeit via a bizarre run out, when Rangana Herath dropped a return catch from VVS Laxman but deflected it onto the stumps at the non-striker's end. Dravid had batted beautifully before his unusual dismissal, following on from his 177 in the drawn first Test in Ahmedabad, hitting 15 fours and a six in his 226-ball knock.
Herath haul
Laxman and Yuvraj Singh inflicted further pain on Sri Lanka's bowlers with a century stand either side of lunch. The fifth-wicket duo both reached half-centuries before left-arm spinner Herath prompted a collapse that saw the last six wickets tumble for 29 runs. Herath first had Laxman caught at mid-off for 63 and then bowled Mahendra Singh Dhoni (4) and Harbhajan Singh (5), who fell to the last ball before tea. Yuvraj (67) became Mendis' second victim shortly after the resumpton and Herath added the scalps of Zaheer Khan (1) and Shantha Sreesanth (0) to finish with 5-121.

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