3.10pm - India 264 for 3 (Ganguly 98*, Kaif 19*) beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets Sourav Ganguly battled dreadful form and bitter attacks on his captaincy to lead India to a convincing seven-wicket victory. The series is now squared 1-1 and the teams travel to Colombo for the deciding Test which starts on Wednesday.

Anyone familiar with Indian cricket expected a riveting, fluctuating day of Test cricket that would end with India losing the match and, with it, yet another away series. But Rahul Dravid played one of his better innings and Ganguly his finest; they not only set up a thrilling finish at Colombo next week, but they proved that the world still spins without Tendulkar.

Dravid set the tone for the chase with some exquisite boundaries off Chaminda Vaas in the morning. He even took the more risky option of cutting against Muttiah Muralitharan's offspin. In no time he had taken India past one hundred and through the first mental barrier.

At that stage, Sadagoppan Ramesh (31) perished because of a typical fence at a Dilhara Fernando bouncer he should have left alone. It brought Ganguly to the crease, and prompted Jayasuriya to post a leg gully and lick his lips in anticipation. Ganguly responded by unveiling a rich array of off-side strokes to wrest the initiative from the Sri Lankans.

Along the way, there were a few heart-stopping moments: Dravid departed with India still 70 runs short and Russel Arnold nearly held onto an edge at slip with Ganguly on 59. Towards the end, it was almost one-day fare. Ganguly bisected the square fielders with such regularity, that the victory seemed more straightforward than it was.

Mohammad Kaif chipped in with a crucial 19 but, despite his best efforts to contain himself, could not resist a leg-stump full-toss that gave India victory but denied Ganguly his century.

The Sri Lankan bowlers did not bowl well but, to give credit where it's due, they were not allowed to by India's batsmen. Muralitharan posed the biggest danger when India began the chase in the morning, but first Dravid and then Ganguly, nullified him playing positive and decisive cricket.

Ganguly answered his detractors in the only manner he could. For having risen so splendidly to the occasion, he was named man of the match.

Rahul Bhattacharya is a staff writer with Wisden Online in India.

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