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| Tuesday, 9 March 2004 |
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Murali takes six as Aussies pay heavy price for audacity Sa'adi Thawfeeq reporting from Galle GALLE, Monday - A combination of skillful off-spin bowling by Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan who took six wickets for 59 runs and casual batting by Australia contributed to a fascinating opening day of the first cricket Test at the Galle International Stadium here today. Making use of a pitch that is not expected to last the distance Australia threw away a golden chance of putting up enough runs on the board when they were dismissed for 220, 26 minutes after tea. By stumps Sri Lanka had batted themselves into a strong position at 81-1. They lost Sanath Jayasuriya when he was trapped lbw by Shane Warne for 35 after sharing a first wicket stand of 53 with Marvan Atapattu, who was unbeaten on 29 at the close with Kumar Sangakkara on 16. Australia paid a heavy price for being audacious. They tried to hit Muralitharan out of the attack but only succeeded in presenting him with half a dozen wickets. The spinner enjoying every moment of it recorded his best bowling performance against the world champions in eight Tests. Muralitharan's previous best against Australia was five for 71 at the same venue in 1999-00. It was also the 40th occasion that Muralitharan had taken five wickets in a Test innings. His six-wicket haul drew him level on 491 wickets with Shane Warne. However the Australian leg-spinner drew ahead by the end of the day when he dismissed Jayasuriya to take his tally to 492. "If the batsmen are attacking it is a good sign because most of the time it is the bowler who wins," said Muralitharan after today's performance. "You can't keep attacking a bowler. You have to play defensive shots as well. So I think it works for the bowler most of the time." Slow pitch Muralitharan said that because of the slowness of the pitch he took the majority of his six wickets bowling off-breaks. "When you pitch it up on a slow surface the batsmen can see the ball and adjust himself accordingly. So I thought of bowling more off-spin than my 'doosra', which goes the other way," said Muralitharan. "To restrict Australia for 220 on a first day wicket is not an easy thing and they are the world champions. Our chances are good at 81-1 we have another five or six batsmen to come and some all-rounders. If we bat sensibly and get about 350 it will be a pretty good score for us," he said. Ricky Ponting's joy of winning the toss in his first Test as captain after taking over from Steve Waugh was shortlived when Sri Lanka captured three wickets in an entertaining morning session which produced 109 runs. Australia's batsmen tried to hit their way out of trouble on a pitch which started turning from ball one and only Darren Lehmann of the top order batsmen batted with any confidence. Considered one of the best players of spin bowling Lehmann hit Muralitharan for a six to long off and also half a dozen fours to make a top score of 63 in 164 minutes. The stocky left-hander was fortunate to survive a chance at 30 when Tillakaratne Dilshan failed to hold on to a sharp catch at silly point off Muralitharan with Australia at 148-4, but otherwise held up one end on a pitch that was becoming increasingly difficult to bat. Lehmann was also fortunate when at 19 Atapattu moved too late to hold onto a catch at square leg. Going to tea at 209-6, Australia lost their last four wickets for five runs with Muralitharan taking three wickets for five runs off 15 balls. The cracks on the pitch made the ball spin so much that even Kumar Dharmasena, not a greater spinner turned some deliveries sharply off the surface. It was Dharmasena who made first strike by having Justin Langer caught behind on the second attempt by wicket-keeper Sangakkara for 12 in the 12th over. Two further wickets fell to the spinners as Muralitharan accounted for Matthew Hayden for 41 when Chandana held his sweep brilliantly at square leg and Ponting was stumped yards down the wicket by Sangakkara off Chandana for 21. Hayden should have gone at 19 had umpire David Shepherd referred a run out decision to the third umpire. The throw from Samaraweera from square leg to the striker's end saw Hayden airborne when the ball hit the wicket. Lehmann and Damien Martyn tried to hold the innings together in a partnership of 72 in 79 minutes for the fourth wicket. But at 148 Dharmasena ended it when Jayawardene held onto a top edge sweep by Martyn. The batsman scored 42 in 90 minutes and hit three fours. Australia stumbled along in the afternoon losing debutant Andrew Symonds for a duck and Adam Gilchrist for four, both to Muralitharan. But Warne helped Lehmann in a stand worth 52 for the seventh wicket to take them to 209-6 at tea. However Lehmann's dismissal for 63 in the third over after the break saw Australia's innings fold up quickly. He moved too far across to a delivery from Muralitharan and was bowled behind his legs. The persistent Vaas removed Warne for 23 made in 66 minuets and then Muraliltharan wrapped up the innings with the wickets of Kasprowicz and MacGill off successive deliveries leaving him on a hat-trick. Samaraweera injured Sri Lanka was without Samaraweera who came off the field in the first session suffering from a groin injury, which he sustained while fielding. Sri Lanka manager Ajith Jayasekera said that Samaraweera may have to bat if required with a runner. With the pitch heavily favouring the slow bowlers it all points out to a low scoring Test match, which is not likely to go the distance. AUSTRALIA 1ST INNINGS J.L. Langer c Sangakkara b Dharmasena 12 M.L. Hayden c Chandana b Muralitharan 41 R.T. Ponting st Sangakkara b Chandana 21 D.R. Martyn c Jayawardene b Dharmasena 42 D.S. Lehmann b Muralitharan 63 A. Symonds c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 0 A.C. Gilchrist c Dharmasena b Muralitharan 4 S.K. Warne c Sangakkara b Vaas 23 J.N. Gillespie not out 4 M.S. Kasprowicz b Muralitharan 1 S.E.G. MacGill lbw b Muralitharan 0 EXTRAS (b-3, lb-6) 9 TOTAL (all out, 68.3 overs, 263 mins) 220 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-31 (Langer), 2-62 (Hayden), 3-76 (Ponting), 4-148 (Martyn), 5-153 (Symonds), 6-163 (Gilchrist), 7-215 (Lehmann), 8-219 (Warne), 9-220 (Kasprowicz), 10-220 (MacGill). BOWLING: Vaas 12-2-39-1, Dharmasena 20-4-52-2, Muralitharan 21.3-5-59-6, Chandana 14-1-59-1, Jayasuriya 1-0-2-0. SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS M.S. Atapattu not out 29 S.T.Jayasuriya lbw b Warne 35 K.C. Sangakkara not out 16 EXTRAS (b-1) 1 TOTAL (one wkt at close, 22 overs, 82 mins) 81 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-53 (Jayasuriya). To bat: K.C. Sangakkara, D.P.M. Jayawardene, H.P. Tillakaratne, T.M. Dilshan, T.T. Samaraweera, U.D.U. Chandana, H.D.P.K. Dharmasena, W.P.U.J.C. Vaas, M. Muralitharan. BOWLING (to-date): Gillespie 6-1-15-0, Kasprowicz 6-1-18-0, Warne 5-0-17-1, Symonds 3-0-20-0, MacGill 2-0-10-0. |
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