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| Wednesday, 14 July 2004 |
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Lanka escape with a draw Sa'adi Thawfeeq reporting from Australia CAIRNS, Tuesday - Sri Lanka saved the second cricket Test against Australia by the skin of their teeth forcing a draw on the fifth and final day at the Cazalays Stadium here today. Set a winning target of 355 runs off 85 overs, Sri Lanka defended resolutely to finish on 183 for eight wickets. With virtually the entire Australian team around the bat in catching positions the ninth wicket pair Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa held out for 30 agonizing minutes to ensure they did not lose. Australia who scored 517 in the first innings declared their second innings on 292 for nine. Sri Lanka made 455 in their first innings. By virtue of their victory by 149 runs at Darwin, Australia took the two-Test series 1-0. The defiance put up by Vaas and Zoysa also prevented Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne from overtaking Sri Lanka off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan's world record of 527 Test wickets. Despite being urged on by the spectators, the most Warne could get was four wickets for 70 runs off 37 overs which brought him on par with Muralitharan. Coming onto bowl ten minutes before the lunch break Warne bowled unchanged till the end of the match from the scoreboard end with only the breaks for lunch and tea as rest. It was a huge effort from him and Australian captain Ricky Ponting gave him every encouragement to get to the record. But he probably was let down by some fielding lapses which prevented him from getting there. Muralitharan and Warne and currently equal on 527 wickets from 90 and 112 Tests respectively. Kumar Sangakkara who top scored for Sri Lanka with a defiant 66 in 264 minutes was dropped at 48 and 55 off Warne who had to grit his teeth and bear the lapses. The first chance an outside edge on a cut hit wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist on the nose, which is suspected to be broken. He bravely carried on after treatment on the field by wearing a helmet with a visor. The second catch was a simple one to man-of-the-match and the series Matthew Hayden who got both hands to the edge but failed to hold it at slip. The Australians renowned for their outstanding fielding put down two further catches in the innings when Gilchrist dropped Sangakkara at four off McGrath and Ponting put down Zoysa (2) off Gillespie at second slip in the eighth mandatory over. Ponting said after the Test his catch could have cost Australia the chance of winning. Zoysa went on to defy the Australian bowlers for 30 minutes scoring three runs off 31 balls. Vaas batted 54 minutes for 11 not out scored off 44 balls. Any chance Sri Lanka had of challenging the target set by Australia disappeared inside the first 29 overs when they lost four wickets for 64. The early losses gave Australia a chance to maintain an attacking field throughout the innings. The wicket of first innings century maker Atapattu for nine in the sixth over was a big loss to Sri Lanka who needed a good launching pad if they were to get anywhere closer to their target. Jayasuriya began nervously and went edging a catch behind the wicket for 22. Sri Lanka's chances dipped further when Jayawardene went the same way for six. Samaraweera ran himself out in the most dreadful fashion, sauntering to his end and being beaten by Martyn's direct throw from square leg. Dilshan once more played himself in and looked good for many runs. But in the final over before the tea break he played an irresponsible drive to be caught behind for 21. Kaluwitharana and Chandana both made 14 apiece but again they did not look convincing. Sangakkara determined to make up for his first innings dismissal which probably cost him a hundred, held up the Australian bowling for nearly 64 overs before playing on to Warne for 66. He faced 173 balls and hit eight fours. Sangakkara looked the only batsman who was determined to battle it out against the Australians. Apart from him none of the other batsmen showed the commitment and responsibility to save the Test. The pitch played superbly throughout the five days and even on the final day it could not be held accountable for the Sri Lankan dismissals. Australia resuming their second innings at 194-2 added 98 runs in 17.4 overs losing seven wickets before declaring today. Hayden made 64 of those runs off just 36 balls to complete a century in each innings of a Test for the second time in his career. He scored 117 in the first innings and today went onto make 132 off 171 balls in 273 minutes with 10 fours and a six. The last occasion he did it was against England at Brisbane in 2002-03. Chandana made a vital breakthrough for Sri Lanka in the second over of the day when he got rid of Damien Martyn without any addition to his overnight score of 52. Martyn had looked dangerous the previous day wading into the Sri Lankan bowling to race to a run a ball fifty. Inspired by that early success, Chandana went on to curb the Australian scoring rate picking up the wickets of Hayden, Lehmann, Warne and Gillespie to end with figures of five for 101 to go with his first innings effort of five for 109. Chandana proved that with his seldom-used leg-spin he could also pick up wickets in Test cricket like Muralitharan. He finished with 10 for 210 for his first ten-wicket match bag. Dilshan also got into the act to pick up his first wickets in Test cricket when he got rid of Katich and Gilchrist in three balls to finish with figures of two for four in two overs. AUSTRALIA - 1ST INNINGS - 517 SRI LANKA - 1ST INNINGS - 455 AUSTRALIA - 2ND INNINGS J. Langer c Kaluwitharana b Zoysa 8
M. Hayden b Chandana 132
R. Ponting c Jayasuriya b Zoysa 45
D. Martyn stpd Kaluwitharana b Chandana 52
D. Lehmann c Jayawardene b Chandana 21
S. Katich stpd Kaluwitharana b Dilshan 1
A. Gilchrist b Dilshan 0
S. Warne c Samaraweera b Chandana 4
J. Gillespie stpd Kaluwitharana b Chandana 1
M. Kasprowicz not out 3
Extras (LB-20, W-1, NB-4) 25
TOTAL (for nine wkts dec., 66.4 overs) 292
DID NOT BAT: G. McGrath.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-10, 2-105, 3-195, 4-261, 5-284,
6-284, 7-288, 8-288, 9-292.
BOWLING: Vaas 13-3-52-0 (nb-4), Zoysa 14-6-34-2,
Malinga 5-0-23-0 (w-1), Samaraweera 11-0-50-0,
Chandana 18.4-1-101-5, Jayasuriya 3-0-8-0,
Dilshan 2-0-4-2.
SRI LANKA - 2ND INNINGS
M. Atapattu c Warne b Gillespie 9
S. Jayasuriya c Gilchrist b Warne 22
K. Sangakkara b Warne 66
M. Jayawardene c Gilchrist b McGrath 6
T. Samaraweera run out 0
T. Dilshan c Warne b Gillespie 21
R. Kaluwitharana c Lehmann b Warne 14
U. Chandana stumped Gilchrist b Warne 14
C. Vaas not out 11
N. Zoysa not out 3
Extras (B-5, LB-3, NB-9) 17
TOTAL (for eight wkts, 85 overs) 183
DID NOT BAT: L. Malinga.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-15, 2-49, 3-58, 4-64, 5-107,
6-136, 7-159, 8-174.
BOWLING: McGrath 16-7-31-1 (1nb), Gillespie 18-6-39-2,
Warne 37-14-70-4, Kasprowicz 11-4-34-0 (8nb).
Result: Match drawn, Australia win series 1-0.
Player of match: Matthew Hayden.
Player of series: Matthew Hayden.
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