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Day 2 at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur had all the makings of another momentous occasion for India as Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar took the field with the former just 15 shy of a hundred and the scoreboard reading a massive 417 for the loss of just 2 wickets. India did end up getting a big score - 642 - perhaps a little shy of what skipper MS Dhoni would have wanted and were able to make inroads into the Sri Lankan top order removing the dangerous Dilshan for naught with the first ball of Lanka's reply. Kumar Sangakkara and Tharanga Paranavitana batted out the remaining 23.5 overs ensuring that there were no more casualties.

Dravid needed just 7 overs at the crease to reach his 28th test century, doing it in sty

le just like India's two centurions from yesterday, with a boundary. India meanwhile made slow progress early in the morning session, adding just 33 from the first 10 overs with Tendulkar still not having struck a boundary in his 79 ball stay at the crease. The Little Master got a life when on 30 with Dilshan dropping an easy chance at short-midwicket off the bowling of Mendis. As if to rub salt into the wounds Tendulkar gave Mendis the charge on the first ball of his next over and promptly smacked him over his head for 6 to reach 40. However, an attempt to repeat the dose a few balls later saw the mystery spinner out fox the legend, dragging the ball down and Tendulkar hitting the ball off the toe end of his bat straight down the throat of the fielder at a slightly deep mid-off.

Dravid counter-attacked brilliantly when Tendulkar was dismissed, upping the tempo and taking the game to the bowlers using the full length of the crease quite exceptionally. 'The Wall' was looking completely impregnable when a freakish incident led to his dismissal. VVS Laxman gave Rangana Herath the charge and smashed the ball back at the bowler who could not hang on to a very hot chance. The left-arm spinner however dropped the ball onto the stumps with Rahul Dravid backing up too far and miles short of the crease. Dravid's innings though curtailed with 144 to his name, did see him reach no.4 on the all-time test run scorers list surpassing Allan Border who had scored 11,174.

The wicket once again slowed the run flow. Despite that, India had added 118 runs in the morning session and headed into lunch with the two batsmen - Laxman and Yuvraj Singh - looking well set with 24 and 13 to their names respectively.

Laxman and Yuvraj started a little cautiously after the break, with the latter exploding every now and again smashing a couple of balls into the stands. Both players brought up their half centuries as the pitch continued to look great for batting. Laxman was very fortunate to survive a loud leg before appeal from Herath in the 139th over, a decision which 9 out of 10 times would have gone in favour of the bowler. Like Tendulkar he failed to make the most of his chance giving Herath the charge off the first ball of his next over and once again finding the fielder at mid-off. Credit to Sangakkara, the Lankan skipper seems to have learnt from his mistakes in the first test, choosing to keep the field in and forcing the batsmen to go over the top in search of quick runs.

Laxman's dismissal started a major collapse for India with the hosts losing 6 wickets for 29 runs either side of tea including the last 4 for just 3 runs in less than 5 overs. Fortunately with so many runs on the board already, it didn't really matter, but India would have dearly liked to have batted for another 30-45 minutes and ensure they would not be required to take the field again with willow in hand over the next 3 days. Rangana Herath was the biggest recipient of India's new found benevolence picking up 5 wickets in the process, though credit where it is due - the arm ball that he used to dismiss Dhoni (4) and then replicated to get rid of Harbhajan (5) was exceptional bowling.

Sri Lanka went into the break buoyed by their change of fortune, but the smiles didn't last long with Zaheer Khan removing Tillakaratne Dilshan with the first ball of the innings. It was a wild loosener from Zaheer which was going way down the leg side and Dilshan chased it in the hope of some free runs. Sadly the talented islander played far too early with the ball taking a thick edge and going straight up allowing debutant Pragyan Ojha to take the simplest of catches.

Sangakkara joined Paranavitana in the middle a lot sooner than he would have liked, but the pitch posed no threats whatsoever allowing both batsmen to comfortably get their eye in and commence what will surely need to be a long vigil for atleast the next day and a half. S Sreesanth who shared the new ball with Zaheer on his return to the national side looked quick but failed to consistently bowl in the right channels to trouble the batsmen. He did get the ball to swing a bit and will be hopeful of doing much better with the older ball as it starts to reverse tomorrow.

Ojha also chipped in with his first 4 overs in test cricket, and for once the spinners (both he and Harbhajan) were allowed to settle down into a nice rhythm by the Sri Lankan batsmen who were more keen on batting out time.

Tomorrow might just be a long day in the field for India with the pitch not yet showing any signs of irresponsible behaviour. Should they be able to pick up 4-6 wickets, India could however push for a result on days 4 and 5.

Mini Scorecard:

India 1st innings 642 all out (154overs, 4.16rpo)
Gambhir 167(215)               Herath 5-121
Sehwag 131(122)                Mendis 2-162
Dravid 144(226)                  Muralitharan 2-175

Sri Lanka 1st innings 66/1 (24 overs, 2.75rpo)
Paranavitana 30*                Zaheer 1-14
Sangakkara 30*

File Photograph Copyright: Vikas