Charlie Austin - 9 March 2001
Today may have been a religious day in the sacred city of Kandy but it was far from a harmonious one as tempers flared on a dramatic third day. England overwhelmed a distraught Sri Lanka side and now look certain to level the series tomorrow.
Sri Lanka had begun the day with high hopes of wrapping up the England innings in the morning. It wasn't to be as a combination of poor umpiring and excellent batting allowed England to add 87 runs for the sixth wicket and 41 for the last, which gave them a precious lead of 90 runs.
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Gough - early wicket Photo CricInfo |
Disaster then struck for Sri Lanka as they lost three wickets in the first 13 balls of the innings. Darren Gough ripped out Marvan Atapattu for two and had Aravinda de Silva caught in the gully off his glove for one. It was the dismissal of Sanath Jayasuriya, however, that broke the back of the Sri Lankans.
Jayasuriya had just watched his vice-captain depart in Gough's aggressive first over and knew that his team needed an innings from their leader. He drove at Andrew Caddick's first delivery and edged the ball into the ground. It ballooned up and Graham Thorpe took an athletic catch at third slip. The English players appealed and the Sri Lankan umpire, cynically nicknamed E.C.B.C. Cooray by the Sri Lanka media, gave Jayasuriya out after confirmation by Koertzen that the catch been taken cleanly.
Jayasuriya could not believe what was happening. He stood dazed, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He thought they would refer to the television umpire but, as Hanumant Singh, the match referee confirmed afterwards, catches can only be referred if there is doubt as to whether the ball was taken cleanly. Bump balls, he said, are a matter for the umpires.
Jayasuriya should have walked straight back to the pavilion, but he lingered and was roundly booed by the English supporters. He threw his helmet in disgust and sat on the dressing room balcony fully padded as if he expected a reprieve at any moment.
Unsurprisingly he became the latest player to be hauled into the match referee's room after the close of play to receive a suspended suspension of two Test matches and two One-Day Internationals. He was also fined 60 per cent of his match fee.
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Trescothick and White, plenty to celebrate Photo CricInfo |
No one denies that England were hard done by in Galle, but the scale of Sri Lanka's misfortune in this game has been exasperating for the team. They can legitimately claim to have been denied nine wickets and to have three batsmen sent back to the pavilion without due reason.
"The team are trying their best but unfortunately we cannot do anything about what is happening to us at the moment," said Jayasuriya afterwards. Commenting on his own fate: "There was no luck at all for me - everyone can see the television replays, but I cannot comment on the decision." Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore struggled for words, but said: "It was very tough to sit here and watch."
The woeful incompetence of the umpiring has forced relations between the two sides to an all-time low as they accuse each other of dishonesty. Soon after the dismissal Kumar Sangakkara and Michael Atherton were involved in an ugly verbal confrontation, which ended up with Atherton pointing his finger in the face of Rudi Koertzen. Hanumant Singh admitted afterwards that he would be looking into the incident tomorrow.
The Sri Lanka version of events is that Sangakkara was told in no uncertain terms that Jayasuriya's dismissal was suitable comeuppance for Sri Lanka's behaviour so far in the series. The players then became involved in a childish share-trade of accusations. The ECB issued a statement afterwards, which said: "Mike Atherton was using his finger to make a point about a remark made to him by a Sri Lankan player. He was not abusive to the umpire."
Jayasuriya admitted afterwards that he was going to struggle to lift his players tomorrow: "When everything is not going your way, it is very difficult to pick up the morale, but we have to come back tomorrow and try to get a lead of 150, which would put England under pressure. Sangakkara is still there and we are hoping that he can get a big one."
Although Sri Lanka have been grievously hurt be the umpiring, they should not be in their current parlous position. They let England back into the game when they lost their last five wickets for 20 runs and should have wrapped the England innings earlier today. As it was Alec Stewart and Craig White added 87 priceless runs this morning to overhaul the Sri Lankan lead and then, after the home team had taken three quick wickets after lunch, Robert Croft and Darren Gough added 41 more for the last wicket.
After an early tea the real action begun. Jayasuriya's decision was awful, but Darren Gough's fast bowling could not be faulted. He exploited Atapattu's off stump weakness to perfection and then produced a brute of a delivery first up to Aravinda de Silva in his second over.
Following the dismissal of Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara counter-attacked bravely, scoring 39 runs in 46 balls. It was electrifying batting and was only ended by a distinguished off cutter from White that Jayawardene played on to his stumps.
Russel Arnold then added a further 39 runs with Sangakkara before Robert Croft, an unlikely hero, snatched two further wickets to seal Sri Lanka's fate in this match. Arnold was adjudged lbw as he padded up for 22 and Tillakaratne Dilshan was caught at slip without scoring.
When asked about a previously arranged dinner engagement, a Sri Lankan player summed up the situation for his side perfectly: "I don't think today is a good day."
© CricInfo Ltd.
| Teams | England, Sri Lanka. |
| Players/Umpires | Sanath Jayasuriya, Russel Arnold, Kumar Sangakkara, Darren Gough, Craig White, Alec Stewart, Mike Atherton. |
| Tours | England in Sri Lanka |
| Scorecard | 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England, 7-11 Mar 2001 |
