Sanga dominates with many records

Chris Dhambarage reporting from Asgiriya

Vice captain Kumar Sangakkara continued his remarkable run of success in Test cricket and rewrote history books as Sri Lanka put themselves in a strong position to win the first Test match against England at the Asgriya Stadium in Kandy yesterday.

After Sri Lanka had declared at 442 for 8 shortly before stumps England reached 9 for 1 in their second innings chasing 350 runs to win the match on the fifth and final day and take a one nil lead in the three match series. Chaminda Vaas just like he did in the first innings managed to get the edge of opener Alistair Cook in the very first over of the innings.

Spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharn may have stole the limelight on the previous day with his new record Test wicket haul but the fourth day completely belonged to Sangakkara who became the first ever player to make four successive scores of over 150 runs. This includes two unbeaten double hundreds against Bangladesh at home and 192 against Australia at Hobart.

The elegant left hander followed up with another magnificent 152 with 19 boundaries and with the innings lasting for a marathon 402 minutes. Sangakkara who missed out a century in the first innings by a mere eight runs again batted with increasing confidence while stroking the ball to all parts of the ground.

Even then he collected most of his runs through the off side where he hammered a series of boundaries between extra cover and cover point areas. His knock had a great amount of significance as this was his first hundred against England and the 16th overall while playing in his 69th Test match.

In addition he joined a select band of players and also became the ninth player and the second Sri Lankan batsman after Marvan Atapattu to score a century against all Test playing nations. But the biggest achievement for Sangakkara was that he became the first ever player to make scores of over 150 runs in four successive Test matches.

This includes two unbeaten double hundreds against Bangladesh at home which was followed by a trail blazing knock of 192 against Australia in the second Test match at Hobart.

In fact Sangakkara was well set for another double century but was dismissed for a superb 152 which included 19 delightful boundaries. He showed tremendous amount of concentration and commitment with the innings lasting for a marathon 402 minutes and 269 deliveries.

He seems to be having a special liking while batting on his home grounds as he also became the first player to complete one thousand runs at this venue.

Sangakkara and skipper Mahela Jayawardena completely took the game away from England with a second wicket partnership of 122 runs from 151 minutes. In fact the 60 runs they shared in the first hour came at an even pace with Sangakkara extending his superlative form with a half-century from 88 deliveries.

Since relinquishing the wicket keeping gloves 18 months ago, Sangakkara has averaged in excess of 150, struck seven hundreds, including two double hundreds, and two half-centuries.

This was also the sixth successive occasion that Sangakkara had passed the fifty run mark in Test cricket. His first two boundaries of the day were edges but he soon settled down and seized on anything loose to hit regular fours.

However Sangakkara spent some anxious moments in the nervous 90's and had a close call when he was dropped on 98 by Ian Bell while fielding at first slip from the bowling of paceman Ryan Sidebottom. Earlier skipper Mahela Jayawardena was out for a well compiled 65 while edging Hoggard on the leg side having struck nine boundaries from 108 delivers.

Chamara Silva joined Sangakkara and the pair added a further 71 runs for the fourth wicket in almost even time as Sri Lanka kept the pressure on the England bowlers. Silva was dismissed shortly before tea for 37 having struck seven boundaries.

Matthew Hoggard was England's most successful bowler but he was forced to leave the field later with a back injury.

Hoggard, 30, sent down the first two overs with the new ball in the second session but succumbed to the discomfort which has plagued him throughout the second innings - worryingly it was damaged facet joints in his back which caused him to miss last summer's Test series against India.

ASGIRIYA, Kandy

SRI LANKA 1st innings: 188 (K. Sangakkara 92, P. Jayawardene 51, M. Hoggard 
4-29, M. Panesar 3-46)
ENGLAND 1st innings: 281 (I. Bell 83, P. Collingwood 45, M. Muralitharan 6-55)
SRI LANKA 2nd innings (overnight 167-2)

M. Vandort c Bell b Anderson			 49
S. Jayasuriya lbw b Hoggard			 78
K. Sangakkara c Vaughan b Collingwood		152
M. Jayawardene c Prior b Hoggard		 65
C. Silva lbw b Panesar				 37
J. Mubarak c sub (Swann) b Panesar		  9
P. Jayawardene b Collingwood			 20
C. Vaas not out					  6
L. Malinga b Panesar				  2
D. Fernando not out				  9
EXTRAS: (b5, lb10)				 15
TOTAL (for eight wickets declared)		442

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-113 (Jayasuriya), 2-166 (Vandort), 
3-288 (M. Jayawardene), 4-359 (Silva), 5-387 (Mubarak), 
6-423 (P. Jayawardene), 7-426 (Sangakkara), 8-429 (Malinga).
BOWLING: Hoggard 18-5-55-2, Sidebottom 25-5-65-0, Panesar 45-5-132-3, 
Anderson 23-4-128-1, Bopara 8-3-16-0, Vaughan 3-0-6-0, Collingwood 8-0-25-2.
Overs: 130

ENGLAND 2nd innings
A. Cook c Silva b Vaas				4
M. Vaughan not out				1
J. Anderson not out				4
EXTRAS:						0
TOTAL (for one wicket)				9
FALL OF WICKET: 1-4 (Cook).
BOWLING: Vaas 2-0-7-1, Malinga 1-1-0-0, Muralitharan 1-0-2-0, Jayasuriya 1-1-0-0.