Just when England’s players looked to be wilting under the oppressive wetheat of Colombo they once again displayed their new-found propensity to fightthemselves out of tricky situations with a stirring comeback in the lateevening sunshine
Charlie Austin15-Mar-2001Just when England’s players looked to be wilting under the oppressive wetheat of Colombo they once again displayed their new-found propensity to fightthemselves out of tricky situations with a stirring comeback in the lateevening sunshine. Now, after the first day of this crucial Third Test Match,an historic series victory remains a distinct possibility.Sri Lanka, like they did in Kandy, batted themselves into a strong positiononly to frivolously surrender their hard-fought advantage, losing four wicketsfor 14 runs to finish the day on 221 for seven. With their tail weakened bythe replacement of Kumar Dharmasena with left arm spinner, DinukHettiarachchi, their immediate goal tomorrow will be to score 250.So far in the Test series it has been the fast bowlers that have keptEngland’s hopes alive, as they claimed 18 of the 25 Sri Lanka wickets tofall in the first two Test Matches. At the Sinhalese Sports Club today,however, the spinners finally played their part. Ashley Giles and RobertCroft bowled 58 of the 91 overs, both conceded less than two runs per overand took five precious wickets between them.It was Giles, who only had one solitary wicket and a sore Achillestendon to show for his efforts in the Test Matches before today, whostarted the Sri Lankan slide, when he had Aravinda de Silva smartly caughtoff bat and pad by Michael Vaughan for 38 to end a 97-run partnership forthe fourth wicket.The loss of de Silva was followed soon after by that of Russel Arnold, whoonce again padded up, only to be adjudged out leg before by umpireDavid Orchard without scoring.Tillakaratne Dilshan was deceived in the air by Croft as he slogged across the line and, although he lingered like a man wronged, he can have no complaints about his decision.Moments before the close England then added the prize scalp of MahelaJayawardene to their late-evening pickings. Jayawardene scored yet anotherelegant half-century today, leaving him with a run of 61, 101 and 71 in thefirst innings in this three-Test series. Well as he batted, however, hisdismissal – caught behind as he tried to square cut Croft – was casual andmay cost Sri Lanka dear, for it has now exposed the Sri Lankan lower orderto the new ball.Earlier in the day Sanath Jayasuriya won his 16th toss in 18 innings. Theonly Buddhist cricket captain in world cricket is clearly on a differentplane when it comes to this important job. Unfortunately, his team hasgenerally failed to profit from his hand-spun advantage and they have onlywon three of those 16 Test Matches.When Andrew Caddick ripped through the usually tight defences of MarvanAtapattu in just the second over of the day, Sri Lanka’s cricketers may havefeared the worst. However, they enjoyed an excellent morning as SanathJayasuriya returned to form with 45, his highest score in six Test matches, surpassing the 26 he made in Durban.He was well supported by Kumar Sangakkara, the devil dressed in flannels, ifyou listen to the English players. Like Sangakkara or not, you could notdeny the elegance of his stroke-play, as he flowed to 45, only to betray hisinexperience again with a loose back foot drive immediately after theluncheon interval.Jayasuriya and de Silva then added 20 runs before the Sri Lankan captainskewed a catch to backward point – not for the first time in the series – ashe tried to loft Croft. Sri Lanka’s innings was back in the balanceon 108 for three. Jaywardene and de Silva then weathered the immediatedanger, but failed to finish the job.