Sri Lanka v. England - 2nd. Test

[Donny]

Murali dismissed Trescothick for 36 and Vaughan for 52. Dharmasena had Butcher stumped for 4 and England are 3/119.

This next bit will be important for both sides. England could go down the gurgler but with some resistance from Hussain and Thorpe, we may have a match on our hands.

Oops, spoke too soon. Vaas just took out Hussain for 10. Murali has 2/16 from 7 overs.

[Donny]

Sri Lanka finish with their tails up

The Wisden Bulletin by Freddie Auld

Sri Lanka moved into a dominating position on the second day of the Kandy Test, finishing with a lead of 219. After Sri Lanka's tail again wagged to great effect, adding 112 for the last three wickets to reach a total of 382, England wasted a rollicking start by the openers to falter to 163 for 4 by the close.

England are still in the game, thanks partly to a brave stand between Graham Thorpe and Paul Collingwood towards the end of the day. However, the news that the Sri Lanka team management have allegedly filed an official complaint to Clive Lloyd, the match referee, after Nasser Hussain called Muttiah Muralitharan a cheat and a chucker won't have done their camp any favours.

Quick wickets were the order of the day for England when play started, and their prospects were looking up when Andrew Flintoff broke through with his 12th ball of the morning. Bowling with great pace and hostility, Flintoff surprised Hashan Tillakaratne with his extra bounce, and Mark Butcher took a well-judged catch just inside the fine-leg boundary. Sri Lanka had added just one run to their overnight score at this stage, and with James Kirtley zipping the ball every which way, England had hopes of a quick finish to the innings.

But they had reckoned without Dinusha Fernando and Kumar Dharmasena, who added 76 for the ninth wicket. Fernando batted with great style and composure, playing a succession of sweetly timed drives and pulls. Dharmasena, meanwhile, provided important ballast to the innings, playing more carefully in his watchful knock. Ashley Giles had three good shouts for lbw turned down as the umpiring continued to raise eyebrows, but the real issue was England's inability to blow away Sri Lanka's tail - yet again. Their four bowlers did well on the first day, but Vaughan's lack of options were starting to tell.

Giles finally broke the frustrating partnership soon after lunch with the scalp of Dharmasena, who was trapped in front heaving across the line (354 for 9). But England's agony didn't end there. Murali provided his usual end-of-innings entertainment, twice swatting Kirtley through midwicket for four, and Fernando then signalled brought up his half-century with a confident swing of the bat over extra cover.

Murali flicked Giles for a straight six, and it seemed that even the umpires wanted him to continue his torment of the England attack. He gave himself room to cut Giles, and although the ball clipped the top of off stump, Aleem Dar initially gave him not out, presumably thinking that Chris Read had knocked off the bail with his glove. However, after a slight delay and some badgering by Vaughan, the umpires consulted the third umpire, who correctly gave Murali out.

Vaughan and Trescothick rushed to the pavilion to put the pads eager to make up for lost time, and they made a blistering start. While Chaminda Vaas was his usual steady self, Fernando was all over the shop. Perhaps he was feeling the effects of his batting heroics, but he produced a mixture of no-balls and long-hops. He overstepped three times in one over, and was also smashed to the rope three times by Trescothick.

Vaughan stroked a brace of elegant drives past extra cover as the run rate raced to over five an over, and the fifty partnership was posted off only 55 balls. Vaughan cracked two successive short ones from Vaas to the square-leg boundary, and even clubbed Murali past midwicket for his sixth four. But you can't keep Murali down, and in the final over before tea he dented England's progress. Trescothick propped forward and got an inside edge which flew via the pad to Tillakaratne Dilshan at short leg (89 for 1).

That dismissal then started a slide of four wickets for 30 runs to put England firmly on the back foot. Butcher got off the mark with a cracking four past long-on - but that was as good as it got. He came down the track to Dharmasena, was beaten by the turn and easily stumped by Sangakkara (100 for 2).

Vaughan notched up his half-century with a crunching sweep, but Murali got his revenge in the next over. He sent down a peach of a doosra which caught Vaughan's outside edge and was well taken by Mahela Jayawardene at first slip via Sangakkara's glove (119 for 3).

Hussain usually thrives in these backs-to-the-wall situations, but he wasn't up to the task today. Instead, he was more interested in mouthing off Murali. Like Butcher, Hussain opened his innings with a four, but he was then trapped lbw for no further score. Vaas pitched one on a good length which straightened a fraction and caught him in front of off stump (119 for 4).

England were on the brink of disaster, and in danger of throwing away all of yesterday's hard work, but Thorpe and Collingwood – the master nudger and his apprentice – prevented a landslide with a steady 44-run stand. As usual, there were no frills, just ones and twos and the odd boundary. It was just what England needed to calm the nerves.

The clouds slowly rolled over the ground and seeped a steady stream of drizzle, but it wasn't hard enough to let England leave early and regroup. Collingwood and Thorpe certainly saved a tricky situation, but there is still plenty for them to do tomorrow.

[Donny]

Murali has 4 and England are 8/262. Thorpe made 57.

[Donny]

Vaas took 4/77 and England were out for 294. 88 behind.

S.L. are 1/39 in their second innings- virtually 1/127 because that's their lead. Jayasuriya is 25 n.o.

[Donny]

Sri Lanka now lead by 223.

They are 3/136 with Dilshan playing a blinder. He's 61 from just 72 balls.

Giles has 2/42.

[Donny]

Dilshan brought up his century, from 128 balls, and was immediately stumped.

S.L are 5/224 - a lead of 312.

[Donny]

Sri Lanka declared on 7/279 - 367 ahead. Giles took 3/101 and Kirtley, 2/62

England have 138 overs to get 368.

Seems a bit early to declare ? The ask is only 2.68 r.p.o. Time will tell, I suppose. And there is the Murali factor.

[Donny]

Vaas got Trescothic (14) and Murali had Butcher stumped for 6.

Vaughan is 40 n.o. and England are 2/63 after 25 overs.

[Donny]

A 77 run stand from Vaughan, 81 n.o. and Thorpe, 41 n.o. keeps England in the frame.

They need 201 from a minimum of 58 overs.

Oops, Murali just had Thorpe caught for 41.

S.L. edge close to a 1-0 series lead but still 6 wickets to get.

[Donny]

4/201 as Vaughan moves slowly to 94 n.o.

Theyt need 167 from 37 overs. Collingwood is 19 n.o.

[Donny]

With one session to go, England are 5/216 with Vaughan on 97 n.o. and Flintoff, 6 n.o.

They need 5.4 r.p.o. and S.L. need 5 wickets.

The innings has gone along at 2 r.p.o. so it's difficult to know if they've been pacing it for a last session attempt at victory or playing for the draw all along.

[Donny]

Vaughan gets his century and Murali gets Flintoff for 19.

with 3 singles from the last 4 overs, it looks like all thoughts of a win have evaporated.

Murali is the big danger for England. He's bowled 21 maidens from 44 overs and has 3/53.

[Donny]

114.6 Muralitharan to Vaughan, OUT: big wicket! wrong one tossed up on
legs, inside edge onto pads in the air to leg, Dilshan dives full
length to his right and takes a beautiful one handed catch

Murali strikes !! Trouble for England. Read, Batty and Giles are competent batsmen but the pressure must be enormous and the atmosphere electric. They must survive 15 overs.

Murali has 4/53 from 46 overs with 23 maidens.

[Donny]

England will hold on and get a draw.

7/280 with one over to go.

Read (1 and Batty (25) played out the last overs. It's a draw.

[Donny]

Sri Lankan coach surprised by England's 'staggering attitude'

Sa'adi Thawfeeq - Cricinfo

John Dyson, Sri Lanka's coach, has turned around criticism of his team's defensive approach during the second test in Kandy by expressing surprise that England did not try to win the game. Sri Lanka had caused widespread surprise on the fifth day by their refusal to launch an all-out attack against England despite a mammoth target of 368.

Dyson believes that it was England who were guilty of negativity. He said, "It is very difficult to get people out when they are not playing any shots. The English attitude surprised me given that it was a very fast outfield, and a very good wicket for the whole game."

He added, "It was a very brave declaration, but England didn't at any stage try to chase the runs. They decided they couldn't get the runs very early on the final day. They had to take the initiative at some stage. I don't think they tried to push many singles and twos. It was a case of 'okay, if you guys give us the runs, we'll take them. We are not too keen to get them'. They had the whole of the final day plus an entire session on the fourth day to chase the runs. It was a hell of a lot of time. They must have been thinking that it was going to break up, but it didn't."

Comparing the Australian and English batting line ups, Dyson said the Australians would have looked at this as an opportunity to rewrite the history books, on a ground that was fast and the wicket that was still good. England batted out 140 overs to finish at 285 for 7. He said, "The pitch wasn't turning viciously and I would have thought here was a chance to rewrite the record books. England settled for a draw. It was a staggering attitude."

"We've been the dominant team in the one-day game and in the two Test matches. We were extremely unfortunate in Galle because of the weather conditions. In Kandy, England batted 140 overs to get a draw. It was a fantastic effort by (Michael) Vaughan who batted beautifully. But I also thought that in the England top order was where their experience lay with tried and tested players. I find their attitude strange on such a good wicket that they played for a draw."

Dyson denied the fact that Sri Lanka were not positive enough. "We attacked all day. We had a slip for everyone, bat-pad catchers all day, men in catching positions and a few fielders on the boundary. England had four or five fielders on the boundary when they bowled. The other team has to take the initiative somewhere. They had to work for victory and we had to work for our wickets and extremely hard at it. You just don't do all the hard work and hand them a victory," he said.

Despite the two close draws, Dyson said the team spirit was still good. He said, "We have been on top of those games. We have been frustrated at times. But that had to be expected. These games test your patience, and test your levels of coping with frustrations. But the spirit of the team is still very good. We've had the upper hand in both matches. We played the more positive cricket between the two teams."

Dyson was not yet sure about strategy for the decisive third and final Test starting on Thursday. "I can tell you one thing, the boys will have to maintain their concentration, their focus and their patience."