2nd Test: England thwarted by Jayawardene
Captain hits second century of the series as Sri Lanka fight back.
COLOMBO:
Captain Mahela Jayawardene cracked his second century in consecutive matches to pull Sri Lanka out of trouble in the second and final Test against England in Colombo.
Jayawardene followed his match-winning 180 in the first Test with a classy 105 after seamer James Anderson had reduced the hosts to 30 for three within the first hour. Thilan Samaraweera (54) added 124 for the fourth wicket with his captain as Sri Lanka recovered to post 238 for six by stumps on the opening day.
England, whose 75-run defeat at Galle followed a 3-0 rout by Pakistan in the UAE earlier in the year, need a win to level the series and retain their number one ranking. Andrew Strauss’ men will slip to second spot behind South Africa if they lose or draw the match.
Angelo Mathews, returning to the side after missing the first Test with a calf injury, was unbeaten on 41 after adding 62 runs for the fifth wicket with his skipper.
Samaraweera said the sluggish pitch hampered shot-making.
“This is not a typical Oval pitch which had true bounce,” he said. “This time the ball is not coming on, it’s not easy to score runs. We have probably lost one extra wicket but hopefully we can get to 300 and put England under pressure.”
Anderson struck in his third over when he forced Tillakaratne Dilshan to edge a catch to wicket-keeper Matt Prior after the previous two balls had been driven for boundaries. Kumar Sangakkara was dismissed first ball for the second match in a row when he was snapped up by Strauss in the slips, the England captain taking the catch on his second attempt. Jayawardene once again prevented a hat-trick, as he had done in Galle, and went on to master the England attack on a dry pitch that is expected to crumble in the later stages of the match.
Steven Finn, who joined Anderson and Tim Bresnan in a three-man seam attack, said England will be satisfied by the day’s play.
“We have had a pretty good day,” said Finn. “It was a day of attrition. Jayawardene played really well and kept us at bay for a fair while, but it’s pretty even at the end of the day. You have to wait for batsmen to make mistakes. I think every bowler did that. We’ve played the patient game and we have to do it again.”
Finn said Anderson’s bowling stood out after a hard day’s work in the field.
“Jimmy’s an exceptional bowler and he showed that again with early wickets and being consistent throughout the day. He’s someone I’ve looked up to and I can keep learning from him.”
T Samaraweera
“This is not a typical Oval pitch which had true bounce. and we’re used to playing on that. This time the ball is not coming on to the bat, it’s not easy to score runs. Hopefully we can get to 300.”
S Finn
“You have to wait for the batsmen to make mistakes. I think every bowler did that on the opening day. We’ve played the patient game and we have to do it again on the second day.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 4th, 2012.
Captain Mahela Jayawardene cracked his second century in consecutive matches to pull Sri Lanka out of trouble in the second and final Test against England in Colombo.
Jayawardene followed his match-winning 180 in the first Test with a classy 105 after seamer James Anderson had reduced the hosts to 30 for three within the first hour. Thilan Samaraweera (54) added 124 for the fourth wicket with his captain as Sri Lanka recovered to post 238 for six by stumps on the opening day.
England, whose 75-run defeat at Galle followed a 3-0 rout by Pakistan in the UAE earlier in the year, need a win to level the series and retain their number one ranking. Andrew Strauss’ men will slip to second spot behind South Africa if they lose or draw the match.
Angelo Mathews, returning to the side after missing the first Test with a calf injury, was unbeaten on 41 after adding 62 runs for the fifth wicket with his skipper.
Samaraweera said the sluggish pitch hampered shot-making.
“This is not a typical Oval pitch which had true bounce,” he said. “This time the ball is not coming on, it’s not easy to score runs. We have probably lost one extra wicket but hopefully we can get to 300 and put England under pressure.”
Anderson struck in his third over when he forced Tillakaratne Dilshan to edge a catch to wicket-keeper Matt Prior after the previous two balls had been driven for boundaries. Kumar Sangakkara was dismissed first ball for the second match in a row when he was snapped up by Strauss in the slips, the England captain taking the catch on his second attempt. Jayawardene once again prevented a hat-trick, as he had done in Galle, and went on to master the England attack on a dry pitch that is expected to crumble in the later stages of the match.
Steven Finn, who joined Anderson and Tim Bresnan in a three-man seam attack, said England will be satisfied by the day’s play.
“We have had a pretty good day,” said Finn. “It was a day of attrition. Jayawardene played really well and kept us at bay for a fair while, but it’s pretty even at the end of the day. You have to wait for batsmen to make mistakes. I think every bowler did that. We’ve played the patient game and we have to do it again.”
Finn said Anderson’s bowling stood out after a hard day’s work in the field.
“Jimmy’s an exceptional bowler and he showed that again with early wickets and being consistent throughout the day. He’s someone I’ve looked up to and I can keep learning from him.”
T Samaraweera
“This is not a typical Oval pitch which had true bounce. and we’re used to playing on that. This time the ball is not coming on to the bat, it’s not easy to score runs. Hopefully we can get to 300.”
S Finn
“You have to wait for the batsmen to make mistakes. I think every bowler did that on the opening day. We’ve played the patient game and we have to do it again on the second day.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 4th, 2012.