Critical
I might sound but Sri Lanka lost the advantage as well their
hold on the series with a dismal batting display at Edgbaston.
Sanath Jayasuriya, who made a comeback in the test cricket
after announcing his retirement, surprisingly did not find
a place in the starting eleven. Sri Lanka continued to experiment
with the inexperienced opening pair of Upul Tharanga and Michael
Vandort. Only change which seemed obvious was the replacement
of Malinga for Kapugedera. England side looked pretty much
the same. Sri Lanka won the toss and surprisingly elected
to bat under cloudy and gloomy conditions.
Mahela
Jayawardene would have cursed his fortune when he saw his
side tottering at 6-65 with no recognized batsman left to
boost the Sri Lankan total. Liam Plunkett was on fire as he
picked up 3 wickets for 48 runs – the best figures of
the innings. All bowlers contributed for England as Sri Lanka
crumbled to 141 on day one. Some sort of resistence was shown
by Vaas and Malinga as they put on 50 vital runs to the partnership.
England
on the other hand started off their innings with a fire. Trescothick
and Strauss put on 56 for the opening wicket before Murlitharan
came into action and scalped Trescothick for 27. It is said
that surfaces and conditions don’t matter to great bowlers
like Muralitharan who went to take his 52nd five-wicket haul.
England were in drivers’ seat at 290-5, but that was
soon to end as Pietersen got out for a brilliant 142, and
England were bowled out for 295. Pietersen scored at a strike
rate of 91, providing some real treat for the English spectators.
Sri
Lanka started badly as Tharanga completed a pair. Soon they
were reeling at 56-4. In came the young Dilshan (58) with
the inexperienced Vandort (105) to put on a fight back. Jayawardene
would have recalled the first test where the tailenders saved
the test and hoped the same to repeat. But it wasn’t
to be as Dilshan fell with the score on 156 to Hoggard. This
time England didn’t let loose and bundled up the innings
for 231 – a target of 81 runs to win. Plunkett (3-17),
the first innings hero, and Hoggard (3-64) were the pick of
the bowlers.
Chasing
a small total is rarely as easy as it appears and Marcus Trescothick
was an early victim when Murlitharan produced a perfect doosra
in his first over. He followed it up with the wickets of Strauss
and Pietersen. But the target was too less to deny England
a certain victory which they achieved with 6 wickets to spare.
However, in the meantime, Murlitharan was rewarded with his
15th ten-wicket haul when he picked up Paul Collingwood. Pietersen
was declared Man-of-the-Match for his blazing century. Flintoff
was full of praise for the youngster:
“I'm going to be excited to watch and play with Kevin
over the next few years and see how his career unfolds. Hopefully,
in years to come, people will be talking about finding a 'new
Kevin Pietersen' and talking about him in the same breath
as the likes of Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar."
Also
mentioning about Murali he said that every ball is a test
and every ball an event, which really sums up his threat to
the English side for the 3rd Test. Sri Lanka need to improve
drastically in all departments of the game to stage a comeback
in the series. Hopefully Tom Moody and his boys get their
act together and produce what seems a miracle at Trent Bridge
to save the series. It’s going to be difficult but cricket
is very unpredictable. England on the other side should be
fairly satisfied with the performance of the young players
who have performed consistently in the absence of Michael
Vaughan and Steve Harmison.
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