The Hindu : Sport : Jayawardene, Vandort make merry

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Wednesday, Dec 12, 2007
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Jayawardene, Vandort make merry

Ted Corbett

The host is 28 runs ahead with six wickets in hand; Tough day for England bowlers

COLOMBO: The kindly people of this sunshine island smile at you in the street, tell you that the most difficult request is a pleasure and seem willing to be helpful in every way. Underneath, as England’s cricketers now know there is a rock-hard toughness that brooks no nonsense which is why their Test team threaten to win this short series 3-0.

Led by its captain Mahela Jayawardene who batted all day for an unbeaten 167, it gained a first innings lead of 28 runs with six wickets standing in reply to England’s 351, batted until the pitch was ready for Muttiah Muralitharan to spin out a victory in the second innings so it could head off to the third match at Galle where the tsunami ruined pitch lies in ambush.

I hear it is not in a good state despite work throughout the last two years and that, whichever side wins, the Test will not last long.

All these facts were in Jayawardene’s mind as he plodded relentlessly on to his 20th Test hundred, to his 2,000th run on the ground where he first made his name aged 20 and where his aggregate is second only to Graham Gooch’s at Lord’s.

Skipper’s distinction

He also went to the highest Test aggregate made by any Sri Lankan batsman, and became the first Lankan to top 7,000 runs as he edged ahead of Sanath Jayasuriya who retired last week. Only Don Bradman has made more centuries on a single ground (nine at Melbourne) than Jayawardene at SSC (eight). Oh, and by the way, Jayawardene’s top Test score is still more than 200 runs away.

Jayawardene trailed the tall left-handed opening bat blocker Michael Vandort who completed his fourth Test century in nearly six hours and was not out until he had made 138 and his side was a solid 249 for three. By this point he had already taught England a lesson its bosses should never forget. Their batsmen are not ruthless enough — four of them topped fifty in their innings and none reached 88.

England must also learn that on a flat, slow pitch like the one at SSC it must use two spinners unless it can find one as good as Murali.

It is a bowling combination that England selectors rarely tolerate yet the sight of Kevin Pietersen bowling off-spin must have suggested that there are times particularly on the sub-continent when two spinners are a necessity.

Obvious choice

Adil Rashid, the young Yorkshire leg-break bowler, is an obvious choice to back up Monty Panesar, particularly as his batting is a strong point. England missed Andrew Flintoff and Matthew Hoggard but it would not necessarily have been winner on this slow, heartless pitch. Sri Lanka had the better of the day and now England has to come back and fight, said a surprisingly cheerful coach Peter Moores.

If, as expected, the pitch becomes helpful on the last two days, Murali, who has also been complaining he needs help from a second spinner, is almost sure to add another half dozen wickets to his tally. Even the dapper Jayawardene was forced to pad balls from Panesar away by the third session.

England’s only success has been Ryan Sidebottom, the one fast bowler to show aggression with three wickets; Steve Harmison, back after injury and lacking a mile of pace, had to wait until the last four overs to take the wicket of Chamara Silva for 49 but only after he and Jayawardene had added 128 for the fourth wicket.

It was not a day to be pale north-west European, in dry heat with little breeze, but although England survived it still faces a hefty defeat.

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