It was prety much a baptism of fire for Pujara, but man, did he play a peach of an innings. His partnership, along with Vijay, undoubtedly prevented any last minute hiccups.
Also, 2 is the number of matches where the Aussies managed to snatch "defeat from the doorsteps of victory." They definitely have a jynx with breaking 8th-wicket partnerships. Ishant Sharma and Laxman performed a miracle, with their 80 run partnership which left the Aussies shell-shocked in the 1st test last month. Now look, it is Sri Lanka's turn. From a dead 107-8 chasing 240 to win, Matthews and Malinga went one step further than India, and hung on for an incredible 133 run partnership, clinching them the game.
If I were an Australian, I wouldnt give them much chances winning the Ashes. Seriously, their batting, apart from Ponting and Hussey, hasnt fired at all(with a lone 112 from Clarke last month in the only ODI against India)and looks weak against quality spin bowling from the likes of Swann. Also, Australian pitches are also bouncy, and offer movement, so England can also utilise their potent pace attack which includes James Anderson. However, Australia have an excellent pace attack consisting of Johnson, Hilfenhaus and Bollinger in their home conditions.
Another gem of an innings from Sehwag today. Bit sad that both he and Dravid got out with barely half an hour of play left, but then, 329-3 at stumps on Day 1 is an excellent start. But I wonder if we will see another of those strange and remarkable batting collapses tomorrow, which we Indians are well known for:nerd:.
NOTE: This might qualify as a bump, but I felt I should update this thread with the recent happenings in world cricket, hopefully providing topics for future discussions.