Captain Mahela Jayawardene crafted a classy century to steer Sri Lanka out of trouble on the opening day of the first Test against England in Galle.
Jayawardene hit an unbeaten 168 as the hosts recovered from a disastrous 15 for three by the fourth over to move to 289 for eight by stumps at the Galle International Stadium packed with some 8,000 English supporters.
Fast-bowler James Anderson claimed two wickets off successive balls in his second over and new-ball partner Stuart Broad took the third after Sri Lanka elected to bat. Jayawardene retrieved the situation by adding 52 for the fourth wicket with Thilan Samaraweera (20) and 61 for the fifth with young batsman Dinesh Chandimal (27).
Tailender Rangana Herath contributed just five in an eighth-wicket stand of 62 with his captain, who reached his 30th century with a paddle sweep off Graeme Swann.
As the bowlers wilted under the hot sun, England were left to rue three dropped catches – two by Monty Panesar and one by Anderson – that reprieved Jayawardene. Number 10 Chanaka Welegedara kept Jayawardene company at stumps on 10, the pair having added 36 valuable runs.
Ford praises captain's effort
Sri Lanka's South African coach Graham Ford hailed Jayawardene's 'special innings' and said the fightback had ensured his team will be competitive in the match.
"We had our backs against the wall," said Ford. "England put us under pressure. It was tough to go in at that time, but Mahela is a quality player. The pitch was not easy to score freely on. He had to absorb pressure, fight and, at a later stage, apply pressure on the opponents.
"One can never be sure how good this total is unless the other side has batted. But we are in a competitive situation now from what we were in the morning"
'We need to bounce back'
Anderson, who claimed his 250th Test wicket with the dismissal of opener Lahiru Thirimanne, said England needed to get over the disappointment of allowing Sri Lanka to bounce back.
"If you gave us 280-odd for eight wickets at the start of the day we would have taken it," said Anderson. "But unfortunately we could not capitalise. But the more we dwell on it, the more frustrated we will get. We have a job to do and that is to get them out early and then the batsmen have got to dig in deep. They have to take a leaf from Mahela's book and scrape out some runs."
Published in The Express Tribune, March 27th, 2012.
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