Sri Lanka v. England - 3rd. Test

[Donny]

Hussain facing the chop

Andrew Miller in Colombo - Cricinfo

The series remains all-square, and there's everything to play for at the Sinhalese Sports Club. England are back on familiar ground as their three-Test series against Sri Lanka reaches its climax tomorrow (play starts 0430 GMT), and return to the scene of their triumph in 2001 with every reason to believe they can pull off another extraordinary series victory.

After seeing off Muttiah Muralitharan and friends on the two pitches that ought to have suited Sri Lanka's spin attack, England will be delighted that the SSC seems certain to offer more pace and swing to the faster bowlers. With due respect to Chaminda Vaas, that can only be good news for England's seam-based attack, and Michael Vaughan has given every indication that he intends to field a better-balanced side that the one that held out for a draw at Kandy last week.

The dilemma for England, however, is how best to climb through the window of opportunity that their labours have created. After playing with such patience and discipline for two Tests, they will have to tread a fine line between attacking intent and reckless abandon. And with that in mind, they face a tricky decision on which of their seven batsmen should be squeezed out in favour of an extra bowler.

The only two men in line for the chop are Paul Collingwood, who has shown a cool head under fire and would be a reassuring presence at No. 5 if England lose the toss yet again and are forced to bat last, and Nasser Hussain, whose hot-headedness has created the talking point of the series so far. At the start of the series, it would have been unthinkable to enter such a crunch fixture without Hussain, the man who masterminded Sri Lanka's last home defeat in 2001. But times they have a-changed.

"We'll have to decide whether we stick with the great experience of Nasser or take note of how well Paul has batted," said Vaughan. "If you look at his dismissals, Nasser's playing OK, and I always say that you are always only one innings away from a hundred. Nasser was unfortunate to be ill during the first Test, and he just needs some time in the middle."

Hussain's time in the middle may just have run out for this tour, however. He has not been dropped by England since scoring a century against India at Edgbaston in 1996, but his ill-judged verbal assault on Muttiah Muralitharan has left him out on a limb. As England's batsmen and tailenders demonstrated in fending off Murali for 96 overs at Kandy, it was the ability to read him from the pitch – not the lips – that was the key to England's survival.

Hussain's alleged remarks had further implications within the England camp as well, as James Kirtley discovered when his bowling action was brought to the attention of Clive Lloyd after the match. Although Kirtley was eventually cleared, it was an unfortunate moment for the issue of chucking to be brought back onto the agenda.

Kirtley is likely to retain his place tomorrow, on merit as much as through dressing-room solidarity, although the identity of his new-ball partner is less certain. The bold selection would be the fit-again James Anderson, a man who will go for plenty of runs but is the most likely source of unplayable deliveries. But with Andrew Flintoff complaining of a sore back in recent days, England are equally likely to turn to the indefatigable Matthew Hoggard to ensure that Flintoff's workload is as light as possible.

The spin pairing of Ashley Giles and Gareth Batty is unlikely to be altered, despite Batty's relative ineffectiveness at Kandy and the attacking option that Robert Croft could provide. This has as much to do with Sri Lanka's spinners as England's - Batty's excellent displays against Muralitharan have turned him into a key figure in England's lower-middle order, and for all Croft's proficiency with the bat, he cannot possibly make up in net sessions what Batty has learned through time in the middle.

As usual between matches, Murali has spent the last three days with an ice pack strapped to his overworked shoulder, and no amount of positive spin from the Sri Lankan camp can disguise the fact that he is tired. He has already whirled his way through 164 overs this series, exactly twice as many as the next-busiest Sri Lankan, Kumar Dharmasena, and he was noticeably less effective in England's second innings at Kandy.

With that in mind, Sri Lanka are considering sending for the left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who was a success on the recent A tours of South Africa and India. Alternatively they may prefer to shuffle their reserves, which would mean recalling Upul Chandana in place of Dharmasena, and the fit-again Dilhara Fernando, to provide some extra new-ball firepower at the expense of his underused namesake, Dinusha.

Whichever way you look at it, England are the team who hold the psychological high ground ahead of the third Test, even if they have yet to hold the upper hand in any of the matches to date. John Dyson, a coach whose mantra of positive play seems entirely at odds with the negativity of his captain, Hashan Tillakaratne, attempted to rock England's boat yesterday with an astonishing tirade against their defensive approach in Kandy. But his words have been laughed off by England.

Graham Thorpe, the man who secured the victory in 2001, was quick to respond. "We have got them under psychological pressure," he claimed. "If we hadn't been able to bowl them out on a green seamer on the final day in England, we would be very disappointed. I can't see that it is any different for them." Thorpe's contributions at the SSC last time around were a pair of undefeated masterclasses on a turning, bouncing track, including the single finest century of his career. A repeat performance over the next few days would set England up for a very merry Christmas indeed.

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Marvan Atapattu, 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Hashan Tillakaratne (capt), 7 Thilan Samaraweera, 8 Upul Chandana, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Dilhara Fernando, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.

England (possible): 1 Michael Vaughan (capt), 2 Marcus Trescothick, 3 Mark Butcher, 4 Graham Thorpe, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Chris Read (wk), 8 Gareth Batty, 9 Ashley Giles, 10 James Kirtley, 11 James Anderson.

[Donny]

England captain Michael Vaughan has won the toss and elected to bat first.

There's just the one change from the England eleven that played the last Test, James Anderson comes into the eleven in place of Paul Collingwood.

Two changes in the Sri Lankan eleven, Dilhara Fernando and Upul Chandana comes into the playing eleven in place of Kumar Dharmasena and Dinusha Fernando.

Sri Lanka team:

Marvan Atapattu, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela
Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Hashan Tillakaratne, Thilan
Samaraweera, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando,
Muttiah Muralitharan.
England team:

Michael Vaughan, Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher, Graham Thorpe, Nasser Hussain, Andrew Flintoff, Chris Read, Gareth Batty, Ashley Giles, James Kirtley, James Anderson.

[Donny]

Trescothick is playing a blinder. He has 46 from 34 balls !! 40 in fours.

England are 0/59 after 9 overs. Fernando was hit out of the attack, his 3 overs going for 27 runs. Even Vaas has conceded 31 from his 5.

[Donny]

Samaraweera and Chandana have slowed the onslaught with 7 overs for 17 runs but the run rate is still 5 r.p.o.

England are 0/75 from 15 overs. Tresco has 55 with 11 fours.

[Donny]

On comes Murali. The scoring stops. 12 balls - 12 dots.

[Donny]

Chandana claims Vaughan for 18.

[Donny]

2/108 as Murali gets Trescothic for a very good 70 from the last ball before lunch.

[Donny]

4/139 as Hussain goes, l.b.w. for 8 to Vaas in the 45th. over.

Murali traps Thorpe (13) in the next over. England in big trouble.

[Sultan of spin]

Nasser's from on this tour has been disaponiting, I think he will need to do something soon to ease the pressure for his spot

[Donny]

6/226 with Flintoff on 68 n.o. He has hit 3 sixes.

[Donny]

Flintoff fell to Murali for 77.

They are 8/259 at stumps.

Murali has quite amazing figures. 37 overs 20 maidens and 3/38.

[Donny]

England all out for 265.

Vaas took 3/64 and Murali 3/40 from 40 overs.

Jayasuriya got S.L. off to a flyer. Sangakkara went for 31 in the 12th. over and the score was 71.

At 138, Jaya went for 85, At tea, they are 2/162.

[Donny]

Samaraweera is 55 n.o. and Jayawardene, 30 n.o. as S.L. progress to 2/215 - 50 behind.

If England don't start taking wickets soon, they'll face a big deficit.

[Donny]

At stumps, S.L. are just 1 run behind with 8 wickets in hand.

Samaraweera is 68 n.o. and Jayawardene, 60 n.o.

[Donny]

Sri Lanka build towards domination

The Wisden Bulletin by Freddie Auld


A quickfire 85 by Sanath Jayasuriya, followed by a gritty hundred partnership between Thilan Samaraweera and Mahela Jayawardene put Sri Lanka firmly in control of the third and final Test in Colombo. After Chaminda Vaas swiftly wrapped up England's first innings in the sixth over of the morning, Sri Lanka ended an exemplary day's work at 264 for 2, just a single behind England's disappointing total.

Partnerships were the secret of Sri Lanka's success. Jayasuriya, who had failed to pass fifty in 12 attempts against England since his 213 at The Oval in 1998, added a blistering 71 with Kumar Sangakkara, and then a more sedate 67 with Samaraweera to grab the early momentum.

Samaraweera and Jayawardene then consolidated their stranglehold on the match with an unspectacular stand of 126, which slowly chipped away at England's esteem and spirits.

Buoyed by their early success in polishing off England's tail, Sri Lanka came roaring out of the blocks, much as Marcus Trescothick had done in England's first innings. Marvan Atapattu had sustained a hand injury in the field yesterday, so Sangakkara opened in his place and he matched Jayasuriya blow for blow. He played a succession of drives which whistled through the arc between cover point and long-off as Sri Lanka powered along at nearly six an over.

Jayasuriya produced the shot of the morning, a vast straight six off Ashley Giles that left a dent in the corrugated-iron roof of the stand, as well as in Giles's figures, as Michael Vaughan shuffled his bowlers to little avail. Kirtley did eventually give them a much-needed breakthrough, as Sangakkara pushed forward and found a thin edge, which Trescothick, who had a mixed day in the field, scooped up low to his right at slip (71 for 1).

Jayasuriya continued undaunted, though, and brought up his half-century with another thumping four over midwicket. He kept up the tempo by sweeping Giles for two boundaries in a row, and then did the same to Gareth Batty. Samaraweera, meanwhile, took time to get going, but he signalled the fifty partnership with a classical cover-drive for four.

It was hard going for England, and some sloppy fielding, including two dropped catches by Trescothick, didn't do them any favours. Hussain failed to react to an opportunistic rebound off his shin at silly mid-off off Giles, and Samaraweera had made only 12 when he was then dropped at first slip. Trescothick did make up for that mistake by pouching the dangerous Jayasuriya, who nicked a full ball by Andrew Flintoff which moved across him (138 for 2). But it was hero to zero again as he fumbled another straightforward opportunity off Samaraweera, who was on 46 at the time. Flintoff was the unlucky bowler.

Samaraweera didn't mind, though, and he continued to play with caution and wait for the occasional boundary. He pulled a tired James Anderson for four, cover-drove Batty and put away a Vaughan long-hop on the way to his fifth half-century in Tests. There weren't any of the thrills and spills that Jayasuriya and Sangakkara provided, but Samaraweera's knock was just as effective.

Jayawardene confirmed his return to form as he kept the score ticking over with ease. He swept and cut Giles for four in his first over, and later brought up the hundred stand by hammering Giles over midwicket for his fifth bounbdary. He cruised past 50, his sixth against England, off 101 balls - and he wasn't finished there. As the bowlers tired, he helped himself to anything else off target.

For England, it was a day to forget, probably the worst one of their tour. They resumed 259 for 8, but faint hopes of a total of around 300 were swiftly snuffed out by Vaas. He didn't even need a sighter, as he trapped James Kirtley lbw for 1 with his very first ball of the day, before following up two overs later with a similar late-swinging delivery to account for Anderson.

England have failed to take advantage of winning the toss, and even though they went into this match with a stronger attack than at Kandy, their bowling today was tired and toothless - as only two wickets illustrates. Flintoff tried with his usual heart but had little luck, Giles and Batty posed no real threat, while Anderson and Kirtley faded. Vaughan gave himself one over, and Trescothick two, but he was clutching at straws. At the end of a long day England sloped off the field, knowing they may have blown their chances of winning this match - and the series.