Off-spinner Graeme Swann grabbed four wickets to leave a rejuvenated England on the brink of a series-leveling win in the second and final Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo yesterday.
Sri Lanka, trailing by 185 runs on the first innings, ended the fourth day’s play at 218-6 in their second knock, a lead of 33 runs with only four wickets in hand on a wearing P. Sara Oval pitch.
Skipper Mahela Jayawardene stood in England’s way with an unbeaten 55, showing the form that has already fetched him two centuries in the series, including one in the first innings.
Photo: Reuters
England, who lost the first Test in Galle, will return for the final day’s play today looking to polish off the rest of the Sri Lankan batting quickly.
Andrew Strauss’ men need a win to draw the series and retain their No. 1 Test ranking. The tourists were hoping for a swift closure when Swann grabbed the key wickets of Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara in the post-lunch session.
However, Thilan Samaraweera (47) and Jayawardene kept the England attack at bay — even for nine overs with the second new ball — during a 90-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
Swann, coming on two overs before stumps, bowled Samaraweera with his first delivery and Suraj Randiv with the third to pin Sri Lanka against the ropes.
If England do the unlikely and fail to win, they will rue a dropped catch off Jayawardene by Tim Bresnan at mid-on off Samit Patel when the batsman was on 20 and the hosts were still 46 runs behind.
Dilshan was unfortunate to be given out, caught in the slips off Swann as TV replays proved inconclusive whether the ball had gone off the bat.
Third umpire Rod Tucker reviewed Dilshan’s challenge for more than five minutes before upholding on-field official Bruce Oxenford’s decision to give the batsman out.
Dilshan, who earlier in the day had been fined 10 percent of his match fee for excessive appealing in England’s first innings, walked off clearly unhappy with the decision.
Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford immediately went up to match referee Javagal Srinath to ask why the benefit of doubt had not been given to the batsman, as is the norm in cricket.
The infrared Hot Spot technology, which could have determined an edge, is not being used for the series.
Dilshan, who made 35, has now gone 21 innings without a Test century since plundering 193 against England at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London in June last year.
Later in the same over, Swann appealed for leg-before against Sangakkara, which Oxenford turned down. This time it was England’s turn to lose the review even though the ball clipped the off-bail.
However, Sangakkara did not last long as he edged Swann to wicketkeeper Matt Prior after making 21, with Sri Lanka still 61 runs in arrears.
The left-hander, who had been dismissed first ball in two of the three previous innings, finished the series with a dismal average of 8.75.
Lahiru Thirimanne (11) and nightwatchman Dhammika Prasad (34), who saw off one over on Thursday evening, put on 23 for the first wicket when Sri Lanka resumed at 4-0.
Prasad, a tailender who averaged 19.20 in his previous nine Tests, survived two dropped catches to defy England for 87 minutes and even helped himself to five boundaries, but it was mostly downhill for Sri Lanka after that.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care