Murali Sreeshankar clinched a silver in men's long jump event to give India a second medal in athletics at the Commonwealth Games here on Thursday. The 23-year-old national record holder soared to 8.08m in his fifth attempt to finish second behind Laquan Nairn of Bahamas in a nerve-wrecking men's long jump final. Nairn also had a best jump of 8.08m but his second best of 7.98m was better than 7.84m of Sreeshankar. Under rules, if two jumpers are tied on same distance, the one who has a better second best effort will be ranked ahead. Jovan van Vuuren (8.06m) of South Africa took the bronze.

The other Indian in the fray, Muhammed Anees Yahiya ended at fifth with a best jump of 7.97m. Sreeshankar's became the first Indian male long jumper to win a silver at the CWG. Suresh Babu had won a bronze in the 1978 edition. Among women, Prajusha Maliakkal won a silver in the 2010 edition in Delhi, while legendary Anju Bobby George bagged a bronze in 2002. Sreeshankar had gone into CWG as gold medal favourite on the basis of his season's and personal best of 8.36m, which had put him in joint second ranking in the world this season. But he struggled in his first four jumps regarding his landing on the foot board. He began with a 7.64m before jumping identical 7.84m in his second and third attempts. His fourth jump was a foul.

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