SANGAKKARA FINALLY GETS HIS NAME ON LORD’S BOARD
England v Sri Lanka
KUMAR SANGAKKARA addressed one glaring omission on his outstanding CV by making his first Test hundred at the home of cricket.
England were powerless to stop Sri Lanka’s great middle- order batsman as he finally got his name on the Honours Board at Lord’s with a sparkling 147 off 258 balls.
His great ally Mahela Jayawardene was with him when the landmark moment arrived.
The old firm took over after England had dismissed opener Kaushal Silva for 63 on a cloudy morning. Alastair Cook’s men were then shut out for more than two- and- a- half hours by two all- time class acts.
The upshot was a stand of 126, in which Sangakkara broke new ground when he cover- drove Joe Root for his 10th four to reach three figures from 182 balls.
The moment overcame not just him but also the usually under- stated Jayawardene, who charged up the pitch and gave his partner a neck- high bear hug.
Cook had catchers in place behind and in front of the wicket as the morning’s play got underway.
But, on a slow pitch, he tempered his tactics with a boundary sweeper on either side to Sangakkara.
It was eventually Silva who succumbed to the grind.
James Anderson broke the secondwicket stand on 97, doing well to find some life with a short ball which followed Silva and was deflected to Matt Prior.
But Sangakkara then simply joined forces with his great ally Jayawardene.
The pair have prospered many times in less favourable circumstances, and rarely threatened to miss out here.
Jayawardene was out for 55 to the second new ball when Stuart Broad trapped him lbw after an unsuccessful DRS review.
Anderson nipped out Lahiru Thirimanne for two when he chipped tamely to midwicket.
Sangakkara finally fell when he provided Moeen Ali with his first Test wicket – caught behind after trying to cut a wide delivery.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews cruised to an unbeaten 79 by stumps.
But he lost Prasanna Jayawardene ( 6) – caught at leg slip by Ian Bell off Liam Plunkett – and Nuwan Kulasekara ( 5) – pouched by Prior off Chris Jordan – as Sri Lanka closed on 415- 7.