PIETERSENTHE MASTER AS ENGLISH DOMINATE
Rangana Herath’s third successive six-wicket haul could do little to curtail a dominant English batting performance buoyed by a flamboyant 151 by Kevin Pietersen, which put them in command of the second test at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, with a lead of 181 at stumps.
Sri Lanka faced an over of their second innings with night-watchman Dhammika Prasad and Lahiru Thirimanne both yet to score, though the first ball clipped Prasad’s pad and raced to the fine-leg boundary, after the hosts had bowled out the English for 460.
Herath, who took 12-wickets in the first test, picked five of the last six English wickets, with, the last five falling for the addition of 41 runs, though by then a significant damage had already been done.
Herath was well negated in his first 30 overs, before having Jonathan Trott caught at slip the following over. He then went wicket-less for another 11 overs, till Matt Prior miscued a lofted shot skiing it to the long-off boundary, where Dhammika Prasad held on to a tricky catch.
Herath then added the wicket of Tim Bresnan to his tally, bowling him between bat and pad for 7, and then – having already accounted for the wickets of Pietersen and Graeme Swann – completed his haul when he had Anderson leg-before, though the batsman declined to use the final available review, which would have had the decision reversed.
The left-arm spinner finished with figures of 6 for 133 in 53 overs.
But a feat that usually would have been a winning effort was overshadowed by a decimating Pietersen who showed scant respect to the bowlers, having been fortunate to have survived twice – once on 13 and then on 82.
Pietersen reached his century in just 109 balls. However he was involved in a moment of controversy in that same over – the 115th of the English innings – which led to him being warned by umpire Asad Rauf for ‘time-wasting’, when, on 98, he twice changed his stance before the bowler had released the ball, who stopped in his stride.
Match-referee Javagal Srinath indicated that Pietersen was given an official warning, following a friendly warning, for “attempting the switchhit before the ball was released” and he also stated that “if Pietersen or any other batsmen attempted the same, five runs would be added to the opposition’s score.” Pietersen continued to frustrate the Sri Lankan bowlers, seeming undeterred by the warning, playing with continued fluency reaching his
150 runs in 163 balls, which included 6 sixes and 16 boundaries, before being ruled out leg-before two balls later, giving Herath his third wicket of the in- nings.
England began the day with a 121run deficit, and the overnight batsmen Jonathan Trott and Alistair Cook continued with the same patient assurance as the previous day, slowly chipping away at the lead.
Such was the desperation to break the partnership that Jayawardene took both of his available reviews in quick succession, though both appeals had a discernible amount of doubt to be reversed. The first was in the 79th over of the innings, when Cook, on 84, attempted a reverse sweep, before looping to Mahela Jayawardene at leg-slip, with Jayawardene asking for the other review six balls later for a leg before wicket against Trott, on 42, but the ball had just edged the bat before hitting the pad.
With options waning thin and the match slipping further away from his grip, Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene took the second newball as soon as it was available and four overs later, had the much needed breakthrough. Cook, who was seen as the batsman who was likely to do the most damage, was unfortunate to fall six short runs short of a well-de- served century, as he lunged forward only to edge straight to the waiting hands of Jayawardene, giving allrounder Tillakaratne Dilshan a second wicket.
Ian Bell – who scored just 18 of 92 runs in his fourth wicket partnership with Pietersen – was the next batsman out after Suraj Randiv held on to a good catch off the bowling of Dhammika Prasad, before Herath’s five-wicket burst.