Lanka, England share honours in new look Galle
Chris Dhambarage reporting from Galle
Sri Lanka and England shared the honours as the historic and
emotional third and final test match got underway at the reconstructed
Galle International Stadium yesterday. The Lankans after been put into
bat on an unpredictable wicket battled through the entire day to reach
147 for 4 on a day, which was restricted to 55 overs.
Even then the day belonged to the people of Galle and this was a
memorable occasion they are unlikely to forget after the horror of what
occurred on Boxing Day three years ago when the whole area was
devastated.
The game started only at 12.noon following overnight rain and was
called off at 5.20 p.m due to bad light.
The match is scheduled to start at 9.30 a.m today weather permitting.
Sri Lanka head the three Test series one nil after their success at the
Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy and are looking to improve on their
International Cricket Council Rankings.
The bulk of the runs of course came from the bats of skipper Mahela
Jayawardena and his deputy Kumar Sangakkara. It is quite clear that they
have been the main stay where the batting is concerned throughout this
series. This was another good example as they laid the foundation for a
match winning total by negotiating England's hostile bowling attack.
No doubt there was some doubt about the newly laid wicket and the
pressure was on the Sri Lankan openers Upul Tharanga and Michael van
Dort.
They may have perished quite cheaply but both could consider
themselves rather unlucky as they were given out following two dubious
decisions. But Sangakkara and Jayawardena continued with their excellent
form with the pair putting on a fifty run partnership and looking more
promising.
Sangakkara played some fantastic shots to all parts of the ground and
was well set to complete one thousand runs for the current year. He
eventually fell for a well-compiled 46 from 95 deliveries inclusive of
seven boundaries.
Sangakkara of course had the honour of completing one thousand runs
against England the second Sri Lankan batsman to perform this feat after
skipper Mahela Jayawardena.
In fact the Sri Lankan captain went on to reach his half century in
171 minutes, 126 balls and with six boundaries.
England certainly could be satisfied with their performance because
they conceded only 61 runs during the second session during which time
and send down 26 overs. They were up against the two best batsmen in the
Sri Lankan side but yet they maintained a steady line and length to slow
the scoring rate.
This was of course the period where Sri Lanka were beginning to
consolidate their position following the early dismissal of Tharanga and
Van Dort.
Skipper Jayawardena and Sangakkara were prepared to play the waiting
game and picked only the loose deliveries to dispatch to the boundary.
They succeeded to a great extent but England came back strongly by
capturing the wicket of Chamara Silva cheaply.
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said that this is an emotional
scene as a lot of people who probably saw them play at this same venue
four years ago are not with them. He said that as a nation they need to
move forward and this is a time for celebration because people have made
vast strides since the tsunami struck three years ago.
Sri Lanka made two changes as they brought in left arm paceman
Chanaka Welagedera and Tillekeratne Dilshan from the team that drew the
second Test in Colombo while England recalled Mathew Hoggard replacing
Stuart Broad.
(Galle).
SCOREBOARD
SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS
M. Vandort lbw b Sidebottom 18
U. Tharanga lbw b Harmison 16
K. Sangakkara c Panesar b Harmison 46
M. Jayawardene not out 51
C. Silva c Bell b Harmison 1
T. Dilshan not out 7
Extras: (lb7, w1) 8
TOTAL (for four wickets) 147
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-34 (Vandort), 2-44 (Tharanga),
3-132 (Sangakkara), 4-138 (Silva).
BOWLING: Sidebottom 15-4-33-1 (w1), Hoggard 13-3-48-0,
Harmison 13-2-28-3, Panesar 11-1-25-0, Bopara 2-0-6-0,
Collingwood 1-1-0-0.
Overs: 55 |
