Good Friday for England as they sniff a series equalling victory

Elmo RODRIGOPULLE Reporting from P. Sara Stadium

Two wickets by off spinner Graeme Swann in the penultimate over of the day put England on top and sniffing a series equalling victory over Sri Lanka at the close on the fourth day of the Second Test here, yesterday.

It was a Good Friday for England. Sri Lanka were 218 for 6 at close.

With Jayawardene and Samaraweera adding 90 runs for the 5th wicket and with Anderson and Finn failing to break through with the new ball, Strauss called on Swann who obliged with the wickets of Samaraweera and Suraj Randiv to leave Sri Lanka facing defeat.

At the wickets were Jayawardena on 55 with 4 fours in 222 minutes facing 157 balls and Angelo Mathews on 3. Swann had 4 for 82. Samaraweera made a fighting 47.

When they lost 4 wickets for125 and with still 60 runs short of making England bat again, Sri Lanka were looking down the barrel with defeat looming. True the wicket was slow, but for the occasional ball that spun and bounced, the wicket behaved well for a fourth day one.

Great discipline

Jayawardene and Samaraweera then joined hands and batting with great discipline and dedication began to take the side to safety. They batted with great responsibility.

With the spinners, Swann and Samit Patel failing to separate either Jayawardene or Samaraweera, frustrated and in desperation Strauss took the second new ball as soon as it became available.

Great pace

The England pacemen James Anderson and Steven Finn bowled the ten overs with great pace, swing and hostility in an endeavour to break through the defences of the two batsmen. But they did not flinch standing up bravely and gamely to thwart the pacemen.

When play began there was no way that Sri Lanka could win this Test and go 2 up after conceding a 185 run first innings lead to England.

Their target was to survive and bat through the remaining two days and save the game which will give them the series 1-nil.

From England’s point being world champions they had to win this Test and erase the ignominy of losing two series and save pride.

They lost 3-nil to Pakistan in the desert.

Wicket playing easy

The wicket was playing easy and the overnight Sri Lankan batsmen Lahiru Thirimanne and Dhammika Prasad were at ease talking the score to 23 when Thirimanne nicked James Anderson to Andrew Strauss in the slips for 11.

Prasad in the unfamiliar role of opener was batting very steadily. He has the makings of being an useful batsman for Sri Lanka cricket. He plays straight. But must be told to be patient.

With Tillakaratne Dlshan, he added a valuable 41 runs for the second wicket, when he pulled a short one from Steven Finn to Tim Bresnan at square leg after making 34 with 5 fours. Great that he stuck it out for 87 minutes.

Long innings

Left hander Kumar Sangakkara who failed in the Galle Test and being out without scoring here in the first innings, walked in requiring a big score and also to play a long innings in his team’s endeavour to save this Test, if they cannot win it.

Dilshan who is known to play an irresponsible shot, gift his wicket and say that, that is his style, showed that if the need be, he can bat with great caution and responsibility in the interests of the team.

The England bowlers, off spinner Graeme Swann and the pacemen James Anderson, Steve Finn and Tim Bresnan tried hard all the time, but had no luck.

Dilshan and Sangakkara deprived the Englishmen of any further success and went to lunch adding 20 more runs with Dilshan on 25 and Sangakkara 8. Anderson had a wicket and Finn the other. 84 for 2. 80 runs were scored in the first session.

Watchful batting

By dint of some watchful batting Dilshan ad Sangakkara added 20 more runs before Dilshan was ruled out caught in slips by Anderson off Swann. Dilshan not happy with the decision referred it to the third umpire.

The third umpire Rod Tucker took ages, before confirming on field umpire Bruce Oxenford’s decision. Dilshan was convinced that he did not nick it. But the bottom line was that he was ruled out.

Dilshan made 35 in 123 minutes, off 66 balls. But what was of interest was that he did not hit a single boundary. 104 for 3.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardena, the first innings century maker walked in looking determined to stick it out.

Together with Sangakkara, he began to take his team out of the woods.

Nothing away

The England bowlers were giving nothing away. They were on line, varying their deliveries and teasing the batsmen no end. But Sangakkara and Jayawardena using all their experience thwarted them and made them work hard.

Disaster struck when Sangakkara lunging forward got a thin edge to a viciously spinning off spinner from Swann and Matt Prior standing up to a good catch. It was another failure for Sangakkara who made 21 in 86 balls, batting for 190 minutes. That was a big wicket for England. 125 for 4.

Meanwhile Jayawardena was settling down well and pushing the runs with some wristy strokes on both sides of the wicket. He was joined by the reliable Thilan Samaraweera and although Swann was teasing both batsmen, they played cautiously and went to tea at 139 for 4, with Jayawardena on 20 and Samaraweera on 11.

Sri Lanka
1st innings: 275
(M. Jayawardene 105, G.Swann 4-75)

England1st innings: 460
(K. Pietersen 151, R. Herath 6-133)

Sri Lanka
2nd innings
(overnight 4-0):

D. Prasad c Bresnan b Finn . . . . . 			 34
L. Thirimanne c Strauss b Anderson . . . . 		 11
T. Dilshan c Anderson b Swann . . . . 			 35
K. Sangakkara c Prior b Swann . . . . . .		 21
M. Jayawardene not out . . 				 55
T. Samaraweera b Swann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 	 47
S. Randiv b Swann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 	  0
A. Mathews not out . . . . . . . 			  3
Extras: (b4, lb6, w2) . 				 12
Total (for six wickets, 			 	 91
overs) . . . . . . . 					218

Fall of wickets: 1-23 (Thirimanne),
2-64 (Prasad), 3-104
(Dilshan), 4-125 (Sangakkara),
5-215 (Samaraweera), 6-215
(Randiv).
Bowling: Anderson 16-6-27-1,Finn 15-1-30-1 (w1), Swann 26-1-82-4, Bresnan 11-5-14-0 (w1), Patel 19-6-37-0, Pietersen4-0-18-0.