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by Sa'adi Thawfeeq reporting from Galle

GALLE, Wednesday Mahela Jayawardene perhaps played the innings of his life to steer Sri Lanka to a second innings total which enabled them to set England a formidable winning target of 323 for victory on the fourth day of the first cricket Test at the Galle International Stadium here today.

Sri Lanka batsman Mahela Jayawardene in action during his super knock of 86 not out. (Pix by Saman Mendis)

Sri Lanka were all out for 226 in their second innings on the stroke of tea with Jayawardene remaining unconquered on a chanceless 86 not out scored in 311 minutes. England were left four sessions to get the runs, but after just one over from Chaminda Vaas in which Marcus Trescothick hit a four through the covers, rain set in and ended play for the day.

England start the final day tomorrow requiring a further 319 runs off a minimum of 105 overs and Sri Lanka require ten wickets. Play is due to commence at 10 a.m.

"Hopefully it will stay bright and clear tomorrow. If we can get a couple of early wickets and then if Murali starts his magic, we should be in business," said the day's hero Jayawardene.

"It's a bad time of the year to play cricket but then again we have to play what we get.

Even if the weather remains dry we will have to put in the hard work. We have to put the ball in the right place and hold onto the catches and be really positive tomorrow. England could come out and play really good cricket as well," he said.

Jayawardene said the first innings lead of 96 Sri Lanka gained on the first innings made the difference in the game and praised the tailenders for helping them achieve it. The 26-year-old right-hander who came to bat at the fall of the second wicket at 72 carried the Sri Lankan innings on his shoulder after the top order had once again disappointed when half the side was dismissed for 85. On a wearing and turning pitch Jayawardene couldn't have played a better innings in his career. The fact that his knock was chanceless on a day when umpiring errors were rampant made it an absolute gem.

Best since last May

Jayawardene's unbeaten 86 off 242 balls inclusive of seven fours was his highest for Sri Lanka in a Test since making 107 against England at Lord's in May last year. Since then he had made just one fifty against New Zealand in April this year. He couldn't have picked on a better time to return to form.

England’s left-arm spinner Ashley Giles who took eight wickets in a Test for the first time in his career.

He was the mainstay of the Sri Lankan batting as he shored up one end to prevent England from breaking through. With Chaminda Vaas, Upul Chandana and Muralitharan, Jayawardene forged important partnerships that lifted the total from 123-6 to 226.

"Our tailenders can bat. Kumar, Upul and Murali, the way he hung about. So I knew as long as I was there they can bat around me.

That was may aim and it worked out pretty well in the end," said Jayawardene whose 18th Test half-century reached in 230 minutes off 190 balls comprised only two fours. .

"It was after some time that I got a decent knock. I enjoyed the innings very much," said Jayawardene. "I was a bit under pressure when we started. The team was struggling and we knew a target of 250 would be competitive and anything over that would be a bonus."

'It's way up there'

Jayawardene described his knock as one of the best in his career. "This innings is way up there. I really struggled at the start and it was not easy out there. I put in a lot of effort. The guys around me helped a lot. Those who batted with me and those inside," he said.

"It's not only the technique, you needed a little bit of luck as well to play on this type of wicket. Few balls from (Ashley) Giles passed my bat while the others guys got the nick. You need a bit of luck and a bit of positive batting to survive.

"Giles was taking the ball away from me so I found it very difficult. Batty was bringing it back to me so I could really guard him with my pad," said Jayawardene.

Jayawardene praised the bowling of Giles, who finished with four wickets for 63 runs off 40 overs to add to his 4 for 69 in the first innings giving him match figures of eight for 132, the first time he has taken so many in a Test. His previous best was 7 for 132 against Pakistan at Karachi in 2000-01.

"Ashley bowled really well. He knew where to bowl and to attack. It was very difficult for us to get runs off him," said Jayawardene. "He didn't have that many partners to bowl with him. That gave us the edge because even our tailenders managed to survive against the other bowlers. As long as I covered Ashley, I think we were safe.

That was our plan towards the latter part of the innings," he said.

Jayawardene said that Giles had improved a lot since he was last here two years ago and that he bowled very few loose balls.

"He put the ball in the right place most of the time and he got a very good attacking field. He studies the batsmen a lot as well. It is quite difficult when you play against a quality spinner like him on a track like this," said Jayawardene.

The weather which has dogged the Test could play an important role tomorrow. Of the 94 overs scheduled for the day, nine was lost due to rain holding up the start after lunch and then a further 31 was lost after tea when it returned.

SRI LANKA - 1ST INNINGS 331
K.C. Sangakkara 71, A.F. Giles 4-69) 
        
ENGLAND - 1ST INNINGS 235
(M.A. Butcher 51, M. Muralitharan  7-46) 
             
SRI LANKA - 2ND INNINGS
(overnight 99-5) 
M.S. Atapattu st Read b Batty		35 
S.T. Jayasuriya c Trescothick b Giles		17 
K.C. Sangakkara run out			19 
D.P.M. Jayawardene not out			86  
H.P. Tillakaratne lbw b Batty	1 
T.T. Samaraweera c Trescothick b Giles	1 
W.P.U.J.C. Vaas c Collingwood b Giles		19  
U.D.U. Chandana lbw b Giles			19 
H.D.P.K. Dharmasena lbw b Hoggard		2 
K.A.D.M. Fernando c Trescothick b Flintoff	1 
M. Muralitharan c Collingwood b Batty		13 

Extras (B-4, LB-9)				13  
TOTAL (all out, 97.2 overs, 406 mins)		226 

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-26 (Jayasuriya), 2-72 (Sangakkara), 
3-72 (Atapattu),  4-78 (Tillakaratne), 5-85 (Samaraweera), 
6-123 (Vaas), 7-163 (Chandana), 8-179  (Dharmasena), 
9-180 (Fernando), 10-226 (Muralitharan). 
BOWLING: 
Hoggard 9-2-33-1, Johnson 7-2-28-0, Flintoff 17-5-32-1,
Giles  40-14-63-4, Batty 23.2-7-55-3, Vaughan 1-0-2-0. 
      
ENGLAND  - 2ND INNINGS 

M.E. Trescothick not out			4 
M.P. Vaughan not out			0 
Extras 					0

TOTAL (for no loss at close, 1 over, 4 mins)      4

BOWLING: Vaas 1-0-4-0.

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