Sloppy fielding and erratic bowling has hurt India. The key to stopping Lanka's charge today will be to check their run rate

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Yuvraj Singh stretches himself after a long day on the field at Motera yesterday. PIC/ATUL KAMBLE</td></tr></tbody></table>When 700 runs are scored in the first two days of a Test, you don't need to talk about its batting-friendly nature. Still, one of the reasons to India having allowed Sri Lanka close in on their first innings score of 426 at stumps on Day Two is their failure to restrict the visitors' scoring rate. With Sri Lanka scoring at 3.92 runs an over, if India allow them to bat for the whole day today, the match could well slip out of the home team's hands. Despite India's failure to restrict the scoring rate and yet another mediocre display in the field, credit shouldn't be taken away from the manner in which Islanders paced their innings so far. And they have done it quite consistently this year. In the 15 innings that they have batted in 2009, only once have they scored at less than three runs an over. But on that occasion they had to bat out more than a day and half in order to save a Test against Pakistan. Had it not been for Zaheer Khan luring Tillakaratne Dilshan and skipper Kumar Sangakkara into playing false strokes, they could well have crossed the 300-run mark before the end of day's play. When asked whether Sri Lanka's scoring rate is a concern, India coach Gary Kirsten played it down by saying: "They are scoring at just under four runs an over while we scored over four. That suggests it's a good wicket for batting." On the other hand, India's below-par ground fielding didn't help their inconsistent bowlers' cause at all. Thanks to sloppy fielding, India must have gifted the Lankan batsmen, who were anyway scoring at will, at least 20 additional runs. What was even worse was there wasn't just a single culprit. From Yuvraj Singh to Ishant Sharma to Zaheer Khan to S Badrinath, who spent a better part of the day on the field as a substitute for Virender Sehwag, everyone conceded runs in the field consistently. If India are to earn the vital first innings lead, not only will the bowlers have to strike early but the fielders will have to support them in the field too.

Sloppy fielding and erratic bowling has hurt India. The key to stopping Lanka's charge today will be to check their run rate

Poor fielding leaves India amid runs and ruins

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Poor fielding leaves India amid runs and ruins

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