Lanka: To be or not to be
At the end of day four of a fascinating Test, it would be slightly off the mark to say that the second Test at Pallekelle is tantalizingly poised. Niroshan Dickwella is still there but with his combination of risky sweeps and audacious reverse hits, it would be difficult to rely solely on him to get the required runs. He has young Akila Dananjaya, whose batting has come on in leaps and bounds and lusty batting of his skipper to help steer the team over the line.
At 226 for seven the Lankans still are 75 runs short of the winning target with only three wickets in hand, with a day to spare.
The innings itself of the day was played the much maligned deposed skipper Angelo Mathews. Entering at 26 for 3, Mathews contrived to take the total to 221 before he fell. Opener Dimuth Karunaratne lent him good support in a partnership of 77 for the fourth wicket. Roshen Silva played with his characteristic stubbornness to post 73 for the fifth wicket.
Then there was that little partnership of 45 with the stumper. All through, Mathews played with a lot of resolute, did not take many risks and cut out the lofted shots.
Jack Leach was the pick of the English bowlers. When he was given a rest after his exertions, the spin bowling looked a bit predictable and lacked bite. Adil Rashid did cause some concern with his flight and his wrongun. But until he perked up late in the day, Moeen Ali was not very difficult to handle.
England, probably, are better placed to pull off a win in the day, and take the series. If they do so, they will be emulating Nazar Hussain’s team of 2000/01. On the other hand Dickwella is a dangerous floater, and he could step up to the plate and force a decider at the SSC.
Earlier, England’s last pair of Ben Foakes and James Anderson added an invaluable 41, 22 of which came on the fourth morning. Anderson enjoyed himself immensely. Twice he went to the vacant boundary at mid- wicket. Foakes came down the track and lofted Dilruwan Perera to a massive six over mid- wicket. Then came the inevitable attempted sweep by Anderson that caused his downfall. Dananjaya met with no further success, but Perera was able to take his tally of wickets to three. So expected, all the wickets were picked up by spinners.
The Sri Lankans pursuing 301 for a win had a bad start. Kaushal Silva was drawn out by a beautifully flighted leg break by Leach, Foakes performed the executor. It was a classic demonstration of the leg-spinner’s art. Worse followed when Dhananjaya played around his pads and nicked it to short-leg. Kusal Mendis swept across once more and became Leach’s third victim.
Mathews and Karunaratne were largely untroubled during a fourth wicket stand of 77. They played sensibly achieving risks. But when the rare loose ball came along, they shifted gear to take advantage of it.
Lunch was taken at 93 for three but ten runs later Sri Lanka’s sheet anchor was gone. Credit to Kreaton Jennings at short leg, as he anticipated the shot and moved to his left, as he palmed Karunaratne’s guided sweep to the keeper to complete the dismissal. This was his second half century of the match.
Mathews edged Leach and Stokes, at slip swept it up on the bounce. That apart we proceeded serenely to his third fifty of the series, which came off 75 balls and included three fours. In tandem with his school and club mate Roshen Silva, Mathews kept gnawing away at the target. He played a loose one handed shot to an Adil Rashid googly which somehow missed the stumps.
Silva batted resolutely and immensely responsibly against the English spinners. For most part, Root relied on the unholy Trinity of Leach, Moeen and Rashid. Of the three, the off spinner looked the least likely to strike. Silva did the basics well playing a right forward or a right back. An lbw of Mooen’s bowling was a possibility. But Roshen survived as they the fielders did not seek a review. He was 33 at that stage. The replay showed up umpire Erasmus as the ball was hitting the stumps.
Mathews emulated Butler with a reverse swept boundary through the backward point. But attention was focused on how the fourth day pitch would play. The answer to that was quite well. The ball did turn, but slowly. The odd delivery did a bit more, however the pitch was nowhere near unplayable. Karunaratne, Mathews and Silva with time on their hands went about their job with a certain amount of circumspection.
Dickwella, who replaced Roshen Silva at the crease, moved in to the 20s thanks to his sweeping skills. Obviously he let him play it by the books as Dickwella swept at the last ball before tea and survived.
Rain that came down at 3.32pm, brought an early end to an absorbing day's play.