Ajantha Mendis in action in Colombo on Friday. (AP)

Colombo: Gautam Gambhir hit the bull’s eye when he described the P. Sara Stadium surface as “fantastic.”

The Indians, however, managed only two 50-plus partnerships — for the first wicket and the last — on Friday, the opening day of the Idea Cup’s decider.

Had Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma not come good with the bat (their 51-run stand, believe it or not, consumed the maximum overs), the Indians could’ve been bowled out for under 200.

That too after Anil Kumble won the toss and, predictably, chose to bat on a surface from where grass had been removed.

In a limited face-saver, Zaheer and Ishant took the first innings total to 249, when Ajantha Mendis claimed the former to complete yet another five-wicket haul (five for 56).

The Second-Lieutenant again got wickets with his carrom-ball and, now, could well apply for (and get) a patent.

With a somewhat bewildering 23 wickets in his first five Test innings, Mendis has quickly become the hottest property among cricket’s newer faces.

And to think that not too long ago, he’d been turning his arm over for the Kolkata Knight Riders during IPL-related nets at the Eden!

So highly is the 23-year-old regarded by his captain, Mahela Jayawardene, that the wily Muttiah Muralidharan wasn’t given a bowl in the pre-lunch session. He was introduced as late as over No. 30.

Would’ve been unthinkable before Mendis’ explosive arrival on cricket’s biggest stage.

Mendis picked up a fiver all right, but the breakthroughs were provided by debutant Dammika Prasad, who bowls at a pretty lively pace.

Prasad got Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar (with a superbly angled one), a performance which would make even seasoned quicks rather envious.

He went for runs in his first few overs, but showed mental strength of a high order in coming back so strongly.

In contrast, for all his experience, Chaminda Vaas looked ordinary and, while facing him, top-scorer Gambhir (72 with 10 boundaries) walked into his shots.

Gambhir, of course, continued from where he’d left off in Galle (56, 74). But if he showed positive continuity, poor form continued to afflict Sachin, Sourav and Dravid.

Sourav looked the best he has in the series but gave it away, again to Murali, after scoring 35.

No matter what he says, it seems Sachin is weighed down by not being able to get past Brian Lara’s world record. As for Dravid, he appears to be committing himself too far across too early.

It’s making for a sorry story and, should the Sri Lankans manage a sizeable lead (resuming on 14 for one), then the Big Three’s first innings failures will haunt them for quite some time.

V.V.S. Laxman hasn’t made an impact either, which is why 300 has been crossed just once — 329 in the first innings at Galle, thanks to Sehwag’s outstanding unbeaten 201.

Till the second Test, Mendis and Murali were the bowlers causing concern. Prasad’s name has been added.

“Well, it looks good for us, but tomorrow (Saturday) is the series’ most important day,” Sri Lanka’s coach, Trevor Bayliss, told The Telegraph.

He’s dead right, for whoever ‘wins’ Day II stands an excellent chance of winning the Test and the three-match series.

Mahela, incidentally, isn’t only scoring, he’s making his review appeals count.

At the P. Sara Stadium, for example, he was successful in the reviews against Dravid and Gambhir. Sachin and Parthiv Patel, on the other hand, failed to get the out-verdict reversed.

Clearly, the battle today isn’t limited to bat and ball.