Kapugedera (134), Tilan (100) in record stand

Sa'adi THAWFEEQ reporting from England

CRICKET: Youngsters continued to excel in the 4-day match against Sussex at Hove here Friday, as 19-year-old Chamara Kapugedera joined opener Upul Tharanga with an unbeaten 134.

In fact there were three centurions overall in the Sri Lankan first innings of 521 for 5 declared as Tilan Samaraweera also completed a hundred shortly before the first innings closed at the tea break on the second day.

Tharanga scored 140 on the opening day.

Rain delayed Sussex from commencing their innings after tea for 105 minutes and when play actually did get underway only 11 of the 14 overs remaining for the day could be bowled before bad light ended play.

In that time Sussex lost one wicket for 40 runs to Lasith Malinga who's made himself conspicuous by his new Afro hairstyle, which cost him 35 pounds sterling.

The day belonged to young Kapugedera who enhanced his Test place with his maiden first-class hundred. The highly talented right-hander displayed a full range of shots against a depleted county attack stroking the ball to all corners of the field.

The most pleasing aspect of his knock was the timing and the placements, which is the hallmark of a good batsman. Kapugedera possessed them both and he has the credentials to become a permanent fixture in the team.

With Samaraweera who brought up his hundred in 265 minutes and 203 balls (7 fours), Kapugedera shared a record unbroken sixth wicket stand of 238 off 385 balls which made a mockery of the county's inexperienced bowling attack on a slow placid pitch.

It was the highest partnership for the wicket for Sri Lanka in England beating the previous best of 140 (unbroken) by Sanath Jayasuriya (100 n.o.) and Marvan Atapattu (52 n.o.) on this ground in 1991.

The pair came together after Sri Lanka had lost skipper Mahela Jayawardene to the third ball of the day when he was given out caught behind the wicket without adding to his overnight score of 45 providing acting captain James Kirtley with his first wicket of the innings.

However Sussex were deprived of any further inroads into the Lankan batting by Samaraweera and Kapugedera who batted throughout the rest of the session and also the afternoon in cold and windy conditions in comparison to the bright sunshine on the first day.

Kapugedera was the more enterprising of the two going for his shots from the inception. He completed a superb half-century shortly before lunch off 85 balls hitting five fours and went to his century with a pull to the boundary off Kirtley moving from 98 to 102 in 176 minutes and 164 balls (11 fours).

His more pedestrian partner Samaraweera took 136 balls for his fifty (4 fours) and enjoying a reprieve at 98 when wicket-keeper Hodd standing up to medium-pacer Turk put him down, inched towards his century using up a further 67 balls.

Although Sri Lanka may not be happy with the form of the two openers Mubarak and Vandort, they can draw enough inspiration from the rest of the batting on their performances over the past two days. In fact in the last four days they have crossed the 500-run mark twice.

Today's total of 521-5 declared is Sri Lanka's highest against Sussex in five matches played between the two sides from 1979 to 1991 beating the previous highest of 340-7 at this venue in 1990.

Tharanga's knock of 140 was the highest by a Sri Lankan batsman against Sussex beating Chandika Hathurusingha's 136 at Hove in 1990.

Sri Lankans 1st innings                                         
J Mubarak             c Heather          b Linley              26  
WU Tharanga           c Kirtley          b Wright             140 
MG Vandort            lbw                b Nash                44 
KC Sangakkara         c Wright           b Spencer             17  
*DPMD Jayawardene     c Hodd             b Kirtley             45  
TT Samaraweera        not out                                 100
CK Kapugedera         not out                                 134 
Extras                (b 4, lb 4, w 4, nb 3)                   15
Total                 (5 wickets declared, 161.4 overs)       521

DNB: +HAPW Jayawardene, KMDN Kulasekara, DNT Zoysa, SL Malinga.

FoW: 1-73 (Mubarak), 2-186 (Vandort), 3-224 (Sangakkara),
     4-268 (Tharanga), 5-283 (DPMD Jayawardene).

Bowling                      O      M      R      W
Kirtley                     31      5    103      1 (2w)
Spencer                     24      3     82      1 (1nb, 1w)
Wright                      25      7     68      1 (1nb, 1w)
Linley                      27      7     56      1
Rayner                      30      5    115      0
Nash                        17      1     63      1
Hopkinson                    4.4    1     17      0 (1nb)
Turk                         3      0      9      0
Sussex 1st innings                                              
RR Montgomerie        c HAPW Jayawardene b Malinga             27  
CD Hopkinson          not out                                  10  
CD Nash               not out                                   0   
Extras                (b 1, nb 2)                               3
Total                 (1 wickets, 11 overs)                    40

To Bat: NRK Turk, SA Heather, +AJ Hodd, LJ Wright, OP Rayner,
        DJ Spencer, *RJ Kirtley, TE Linley.

FoW: 1-39 (Montgomerie).

Bowling                      O      M      R      W
Zoysa                        5      2      8      0 (1nb)
Malinga                      5      0     30      1 (1nb)
Kulasekara                   1      0      1      0