Buoyant India chase rare away test series triumph

India, buoyed by a return to confident batting form, aim to complete their first away test series triumph for eight years when they face Sri Lanka in the deciding third test starting on Wednesday.

India's morale is high after a seven-wicket victory in the second test in Kandy last week enabled them to bounce back from a 10-wicket defeat in the first game at Galle and square the series.

The touring team won their last full test series away from home in mid-1993, taking a three-match rubber in Sri Lanka 1-0, and they are in an ideal position to repeat that success despite being hit by injuries.

Key batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Vangipurappu Laxman did not make the tour side, and pace spearhead Javagal Srinath broke his hand in Galle to be ruled out for the next two tests.

However, India's depleted bowling came good with left-arm Zaheer Khan and veteran Venkatesh Prasad taking seven wickets each in Kandy to make up for Srinath's absence.

India's prospects have been lifted after they successfully chased a challenging target of 264 in the second test against Sri Lanka's four-pronged pace attack and the world class off-spin of Muttiah Muralitharan.

The in-form Rahul Dravid hit 75 to anchor the chase while beleaguered skipper Saurav Ganguly rediscovered his batting form with an unbeaten 98 -- his first 50 in 14 test innings.

"Dravid and Ganguly batted well and the top (order) batsmen gave a reasonable start, but it was a good effort to win the game," the team's New Zealand coach John Wright said.

MUCH TOUGHER

The top six batsmen contributed only 152, 109 and 121 runs in the first three innings of the series but came good in the fourth when it mattered most.

"We are in the same position as we were in Zimbabwe. But this will be a lot tougher. We have to play very well," Wright added.

India had looked set to end their overseas victory drought in a two-test series in Zimbabwe last June.

But having won the opening game -- their first test victory outside the sub-continent in 15 years -- India collapsed in the second test and Zimbabwe squared the series.

Sri Lanka, after making a fine start against India, are in the same position they faced in their previous home test series against England earlier this year.

They won at Galle but lost in Kandy -- where they have lost seven of their 12 tests -- and in Colombo.

The Kandy reverse may force Sri Lanka to rethink their ploy of going into the series with a four-pronged pace attack, plus Muralitharan.

Young pace bowling all-rounder Suresh Perera is under pressure to retain his place after failing to take a wicket in the first two tests and scoring only 1, 18 and 15 in three innings.

He was included for the Kandy test after West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor reported him for a suspect bowling action during the first test.

Uncapped left-hander Michael Vandort, a tall 21-year-old opener who hit a century in India's three-day game before the test series, is considered to be a front-runner to bolster the home team's batting.

Mail Cricket Editor