Sri Lanka's juggernaut rolls over England
Sri Lanka 555-8 dec England 27-1
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Your support makes all the difference.A fifty-yard corridor separates the two dressing rooms here at Lord's, but the feelings on the respective balconies by the close of play on the second day of the first Test were, like the quality of the cricket being played by the two teams, miles apart.
Sri Lanka will be overjoyed with the position they find themselves in, having waltzed past their previous highest score of 491 for 7 at the ground.
On the first day the tourists scored 314 for 3 without breaking sweat. Yesterday, as if to emphasise the point, Marvan Atapattu and Aravinda de Silva strode purposefully out, on a hot hazy morning, wearing sweaters. By late afternoon thermals had no doubt been called for, so comfortable was their cause.
The daze that England find themselves in is a result of the concussion sustained through running head-on into the juggernaut that is the Sri Lanka batting. Yesterday was a better day for England, but they walked off at 5.50pm a beleaguered and tired bunch knowing they had failed to do what they set out to achieve.
The Sri Lankans' declaration surprised everyone as the day appeared to be drifting to a tame end. However the tourists did not waste the nine overs England were left to negotiate. Nuwan Zoysa showed what can be achieved through pitching the ball in the right area as he found Marcus Trescothick's outside edge. Sanath Jayasuriya took a good low catch at first slip that sealed another excellent day for his side despite coming off one over early due to bad light.
England's bowling was, in general, more aggressive and better directed than on the first day, but the same mistakes were still being made and they were not just with the ball, two dropped catches early on proving costly.
An "up and at 'em, get the ball in the right areas" team talk would have preceded England's slightly later and less energetic entry to the arena (on the first day they beat the umpires out) but Nasser Hussain and Duncan Fletcher may as well have saved their breath. The first ball of the day from Matthew Hoggard was a leg-stump half-volley. It got what it deserved and was dismissed to the square-leg boundary. The Sri Lankans were off and running.
Steam could almost be seen rising from Hussain's head at first slip, a position he is rarely seen in these days. One could excuse him for distancing himself from the array of misdirected balls being sent down 40 yards away. His demeanour, which the bowlers did little to change throughout the day, was that of an angry man.
Hoggard's spell lasted longer than Hussain's fuse – one over – and, unsurprisingly, he was replaced by Andrew Flintoff. The Lancashire bowler continued to be the pick of the bowlers, but it did not take long for him to become a villain. Twice in seven balls he shelled difficult, but catchable, chances at second slip. Atapattu, on 163, was the first beneficiary of England's continued generosity. His outside edge off Hoggard flew to Flintoff's left, but a wrist was all he managed to get on it. In the next over, off Caddick, De Silva, who was on 43, edged a drive that flew high and Flintoff tipped it over the bar. By then Hussain had moved back to his usual position at mid-off, to be more "hands on" with his bowlers, but his manner had not changed.
The chances were created by pitched-up deliveries and even though Caddick ran in hard and showed that there is some life in this pitch, he, like all the England's bowlers, was guilty of bowling far too short. This is backed up by the fact that 272 of the 555 runs that Sri Lanka scored were behind the wicket and 243 were in front.
If England's game plan was to bully these diminutive Sri Lankans with short-pitched bowling then it has not worked, even if Atapattu's magnificent innings ended with a top-edged hook at a bouncer.
Atapattu's dismissal, like those of Russel Arnold, Aravinda de Silva and Nuwan Zoysa, were to short balls, but having scored 185, 50, 88 and 28 respectively it is hard to conclude that this tactic was successful.
While the effort Dominic Cork puts in is laudable, his method made a mockery of the fact he was selected because he had rediscovered his outswinger. In one 10-ball spell he bowled eight short balls. If England required a bowler to bang the ball in the dirt over after over there are bigger, quicker and younger models than Cork.
Despite Cork's credible figures of 3 for 93, which he achieved before being forced out of the attack with a groin strain, it appears the selectors may have gone back to this well once too often.
With a minimum of 270 overs still to go in this game, England have a substantial task on their hands to avoid defeat. They can be thankful Muttiah Muralitharan is not yet in the country.
Lord's scoreboard
Second day; Sri Lanka won toss
SRI LANKA First Innings
(Overnight: 314 for 3)
M S Atapattu c Trescothick b Cork 185
494 min, 351 balls, 24 fours
P A de Silva c Stewart b Cork 88
323 min, 225 balls, 12 fours
ÝR P Arnold c Trescothick b Hoggard 50
110 min, 87 balls, 7 fours
H P Tillakaratne not out 17
125 min, 74 balls, 1 four
W P U Vaas c Trescothick b Cork 6
26 min, 17 balls, 1 four
D N T Zoysa c Stewart b Flintoff28
63 min, 49 balls, 2 fours, 2 sixes
T C B Fernando not out 6
27 min, 22 balls, 1 four
Extras (b1, lb13, w1, nb25) 40
Total (for 8 dec, 732 min, 169 overs) 555
Fall (cont): 4-407 (Atapattu), 5-492 (Arnold), 6-492 (De Silva), 7-505 (Vaas), 8-540 (Zoysa).
Did not bat: P D R L Perera.
Bowling: Caddick 38.3-6-135-0 (5-0-17-0, 3-0-15-0, 6-1-20-0, 3-1-10-0, 4-0-20-0, 7-2-23-0, 4-0-20-0, 6.3-2-10-0) (nb3); Hoggard 39-4-160-2 (8-1-47-1, 5-0-14-0, 7-0-34-0, 4-1-12-0, 6-0-22-0, 9-2-31-1) (nb8, w1); Cork 35.3-11-93-2 (6-1-19-0, 3-0-16-0, 3-0-10-0, 7-2-13-0, 10-3-24-1, 6.3-4-11-2) (nb6); Flintoff 39-8-101-2 (5-2-11-0, 7-0-21-0, 5-1-11-1, 3-0-9-0, 6-2-9-0, 5-0-24-0, 8-3-16-1) (nb6); Butcher 3-0-17-0 (one spell); Vaughan 14-2-35-0 (2-0-7-0, 6-1-12-0, 6-1-16-0).
Progress: Second day: 350: 417 min, 98.5 overs. 400: 486 min, 114.3 overs. Lunch: 412-4 (De Silva 62, Arnold 1) 118 overs. 450: 552 min, 129 overs. Tea: 495-6 (Tillekeratne 1, Vaas 2) 146 overs. 500: in 629 min, 147.3 overs. Second new ball: taken after 163 overs at 540-8. 550: in 724 min, 167.2 overs. Declaration: 5.49pm.
Atapattu 50: 138 min, 86 balls, 6 fours. 100: 271 min, 177 balls, 13 fours. 150: 405 min, 283 balls, 19 fours.
De Silva 50: 172 min, 131 balls, 7 fours.
Arnold 50: 107 min, 86 balls, 7 fours.
ENGLAND First Innings
M E Trescothick c Jayasuriya b Zoysa 13
18 min, 12 balls, 2 fours
M P Vaughan not out 4
40 min, 27 balls
M A Butcher not out 7
21 min, 11 balls
Extras (w1, nb2) 3
Total (for 1, 40 min, 8 overs) 27
Fall: 1-17 (Trescothick).
To bat: *N Hussain, G P Thorpe, J P Crawley, ÝA J Stewart, A Flintoff, D G Cork, A R Caddick, M J Hoggard.
Bowling: Vaas 4-1-9-0 (nb1); Zoysa 3-0-18-1 (nb1, w1); Fernando 1-1-0-0 (one spell each).
Progress: Second day: Bad light stopped play: 6.40pm.
Umpires: D J Harper (Aus) and S Venkataraghavan (Ind).
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