The opening one-day international at the Wanderers was under severe threat after continued heavy rain in Johannesburg led to a delayed start. The umpires will inspect at 3pm (1300GMT) but the weather has been dire for the last three days and conditions don't look promising.
Yesterday, England were forced to train indoors - including the use of a covered car park for fielding practice - and an hour before the scheduled start they hadn't left their team hotel in Sandton. However, although a washout would be a disappointing way to start the series it would at least give the England players carrying injuries a couple of extra days to recover.
Paul Collingwood, who will become England's most capped ODI player if the match begins, and James Anderson are both expected to be available should play get underway, but their back and knee niggles respectively would benefit from a little more time. England have been hit by a list of injuries at the start of this trip with both Stuart Broad (shoulder) and Graeme Swann (side) ruled out of the opening two matches, leading to call-ups for Liam Plunkett and James Tredwell.
South Africa showed what they expect from conditions by omitting their spinners, Johan Botha and Roelof van der Merwe, from a 12-man squad. Wayne Parnell, the left-arm quick, is still recovering from an ankle injury while Hashim Amla also missed out.
Sri Lankan batsmen Mahela Jayawardene and Prasanna Jayawardene today broke a 72-year-old world record for the highest sixth-wicket partnership in Tests by putting on a 351-run stand against India on the fourth day of the first cricket Test here.
Mahela and Prasanna, who came together yesterday, went past the 346-run stand that was put together by Australian great Don Bradman and Jack Fingleton against England in Melbourne in 1937.
The Sri Lankans` stand was broken after Mahela (275), who completed his double ton yesterday, was dismissed by Amit Mishra while trying to loft the the leg-spinner over cover only to have his stumps rattled.
Before going back to the pavillion, Mahela also completed his 9000 runs in Test cricket to become the ninth highest run-getter in the format.
Sri Lanka gave themselves a minimum of 134 overs and an ample cushion of runs to try and register their first Test win in India, but the Ahmedabad pitch got deader and deader every passing minute. Gautam Gambhir got into one of his long-innings mode, reminiscent of his match-saving effort in Napier earlier this year, but Chanaka Welegedara brought Sri Lanka right back with Rahul Dravid's wicket 15 minutes before stumps.
Sri Lanka seemed a little unsettled by a charmed innings from Virender Sehwag who survived his own ambitious mindset to score an aggressive half-century. The Sri Lankan fast bowlers failed to replicate the swing they got in the first innings, and apart from a few moments of indiscretion from Sehwag it seemed Sri Lanka would spend the day without a wicket.
Sehwag escaped three chances before his eventual dismissal, in the final session. In the first over he edged a no-ball, in the second another edge flew between keeper and slip. He went on to take a suicidal run off a back-foot punch straight to mid-on, and then cut and edge past slip a ball too full in the last over before tea. For the while Sehwag stayed in the middle, India hardly resembled a side trying to save the match, scoring at five an over, but it did work in India's favour. Kumar Sangakkara made the same mistake as MS Dhoni, and set defensive fields too soon. Twenty-seven singles in those 17 overs that Sehwag batted, and none of the bowlers could settle into any rhythm.
In between, for a brief while approaching tea, Sehwag did tighten up his game, leaving balls outside off, defending with soft hands, looking to run singles and alternate strike. In other words, he started to look more like Gambhir, who desisted from playing too far outside off, kept the big shots out, and drove only when close to the pitch.
Rangana Herath may have got Sehwag's wicket to a slog-sweep, but both he and Muttiah Muralitharan failed to trouble Gambhir and Dravid. The ball turned, but slowly. Both Gambhir and Dravid looked to play them as late as possible. Even if they did play back to a fullish delivery, there was enough time to recover. Every now and then Gambhir would step out, and drive from out of the rough, but wouldn't give the ball any time to spin.
In 15 overs of spin bowling, the two added 41, without giving any of the close-in fielders any chance. Sangakkara went back to Dammika Prasad and Chanaka Welegedera. Prasad beat Gambhir with late movement right away, and five overs later Dravid too poked outside off. Just before stumps Sri Lanka got lucky when Welegedera got Dravid with a late swinging delivery from round the stumps. The ball seemed headed down the leg side.
Nightwatchman Amit Mishra and Gambhir saw out the remaining 15 overs, without incident. And without incident went the first half of the day. India started the day waiting, nay hoping, for a declaration from Sri Lanka, but the Jayawardenes accumulated ruthlessly, scoring at close to four an over, almost making sure Sri Lanka would not have to bat again. Along the way Prasanna went past 150, his second Test century, Sri Lanka registered the highest total in India, Mahela reached 250 in the innings and 9000 Test runs, and their 351-run partnership was the new world record for sixth wicket.
India took the new ball as soon as it was due, but the going seemed all too easy for the batsmen. Without taking risks, they kept getting boundaries, as the bowlers again failed to hit the same areas consistently. Zaheer Khan bowled off a shorter run, Ishant Sharma's pace wasn't up there - an edge that he induced when Prasanna was on 99 died on the keeper - and although the field setting suggested India wanted to stop the singles, the boundaries made up for it.
The game stayed on auto-pilot until the declaration came 11.4 overs into the second session. India had spent more than a day without a wicket, and looked it. The Jayawardenes didn't have to resort to frenetic hitting to go past their milestones. Mahela's innings - although never challenged by India once he got in on the second evening - stood out for how he maintained focus and didn't make any outright mistake until he finally missed an attempt at a big shot against Amit Mishra, who toiled for 58 overs for that lone success. A double-century came for Mishra, while Harbhajan came up just short, going for 189 in his 48.4 overs. India, in scoring 426 in their first innings, hit 59 fours and two sixes; Sri Lanka 71 fours and two sixes in 760. The statistic showed the difference in mindset of both teams when they came out to field.
Sri Lanka 708 for 5 (Jayawardene 267*, Prasanna 134*, Dilshan 112) lead India 426 by 282 runs
India kept going through the motions, waiting, nay hoping, for a declaration but the Jayawardenes, Mahela and Prasanna, accumulated ruthlessly, scoring at close to four an over on the fourth morning, almost making sure Sri Lanka would not have to bat again. Along the way Prasanna got to his second Test century, Sri Lanka registered the highest total in India, Mahela reached 250 in the innings and 9000 Test runs, and their 333-run partnership became a new sixth-wicket record for Sri Lanka.
India took the new ball as soon as it was due, but the going seemed all too easy for the batsmen. Without taking risks, they kept getting boundaries, as the bowlers again failed to hit the same areas consistently. Zaheer Khan bowled off a shorter run, Ishant Sharma's pace wasn't up there - an edge that he induced when Prasanna was on 99 died on the keeper - and although the field setting suggested India wanted to stop the singles, the boundaries made up for it.
The senior Jayawardene set the agenda for the morning, driving on the up and late-cutting the fast bowlers for boundaries. Prasanna joined in, reaching his century with his fourth boundary of the morning. So while India seemed to have reduced the flow of singles, there were eight boundaries in the first nine overs, which cost 39.
Amit Mishra's introduction was welcomed with Mahela stepping out for two boundaries as he moved towards his 250. The game went on auto-pilot for the rest of the session: India had close to a day without a wicket, and looked it. The declaration didn't arrive by lunch, nor did frenetic hitting. There was a possibility that Sri Lanka were looking to save the two overs for the changeover, and could perhaps declare their innings closed during lunch.
Video Post
