Mahendra Singh Dhoni in action on Tuesday

New Delhi: Just a few minutes before Anil Kumble started his second spell from the Delhi Gate end, there was a sudden drop in light, forcing the umpires to have a quick look at the state of visibility at the Kotla on Tuesday.

Within seconds, though, the sun came out shining again, and with it, rose Team India’s stock. Kumble struck twice in that over, Harbhajan Singh dealt another blow with the day’s final delivery to leave Sri Lanka staring at a huge defeat in the second Test of the Videocon Cup series.

India declared their second innings at 375 for six after lunch on Day IV, setting the visitors a target of 436. Sri Lanka were cruising along with Maravan Atapattu and Kumar Sangakkara, after the early dismissal of Avishka Gunawardene. Ajit Agarkar broke their 79-run partnership with a ball which swung late and found the edge of the Lankan wicketkeeper’s bat.

Then came the sun’s hide-and-seek routine with the clouds, followed by Kumble’s 16th over. As he tossed up the second ball, Atapattu came out and was committed to the stroke, only to see the leg-spinner take the return catch brilliantly, inches off the ground.

Malinga Bandara came out as nightwatchman and went back within four balls. The faster delivery from Kumble, however, appeared to have touched his bat before crashing into the pads.

Harbhajan then engineered the day’s final twist, getting rid of Thilan Samaraweera. The light dropped again and this time, the umpires called off play. But by that time, Team India were shining all over Kotla.

Sri Lanka, having plummeted from 109 for one to 123 for five at stumps, still need 313 runs. Mahela Jayawardene is still there (on nine off 51 balls), the game is as good as over for the visitors.

If Day IV put Team India on course of a comfortable victory, it once again exposed the visitors’ reliability on one man: Muttiah Muralidharan’s lack of success can spell doom for them.

Denying Muralidharan a wicket was precisely the aim of Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh on Tuesday morning. Like the preceding days, a thick layer of smog hung over the ground as the two left-handers applied themselves. Caution was the watchword as the duo was determined to prevent another dramatic collapse, a la Day II.

Sourav sedately and uncharacteristically went on to add 17 runs in 61 balls to his overnight score of 22. His partner was also happy to be playing the grafter’s role.

The former captain eventually departed, misreading Muralidharan’s doosra. But, by then, the off-spinner’s fire had been doused and Atapattu was left with no option but to go defensive.

It was an ideal stage for the likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The wicket had dried up and Muralidharan was tired and frustrated.

In the very first over he faced the off-spinner, the dashing wicketkeeper came down the pitch to hoist him for a straight six. On 18, he was dropped by Dilhara Fernando but his little cameo provided India the much-needed acceleration.

Dhoni raced to a run-a-ball unbeaten 51 (4x5, 6x2) ? his maiden fifty in his second Test ? while Yuvraj strengthened his chances of staying in the XI with a well-crafted unbeaten 77 off 168 balls, which contained ten hits to the boundary. Till Dravid signalled them to come back, the duo plundered 55 runs off seven overs in the post-lunch session.

It was almost a losing battle when Atapattu came out to bat. The Lankan captain (67 from 129 balls) was really playing well and six of his eleven boundaries were off Kumble. His solitary blemish proved costly.

Dismissals such as this underlines the importance of Kumble. He is workmanlike and precise, rather than spectacular. For Team India’s success, it’s imperative that Kumble is on song.