Sri Lanka make 422 for 4
Warnapura, Jayawardena and Samaraweera in three
figure club:
Elmo RODRIGOPULLE
Brilliant centuries from Malinda Warnapura 115, skipper Mahela
Jayawardena 136 and Thilan Samaraweera 111 not out took Sri Lanka to a
commanding position on the second day of the First Test against India at
the SSC ground, yesterday.
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Mahela Jayawardena |
At the close Sri Lanka were 422 for 4 wickets with Dilshan unbeaten
on 20. After the Warnapura/Jayawardena heroics, Samaraweera made one of
his more aggressive centuries.
Samaraweera wads on fast forward from the time he took strike and
played one of his more aggressive innings to race to three figures,is
seventh in Tests which came off 174 balls,229 minutes with 15 fours.
The Lankan total was built around two excellent partnerships of 155
between Malinda Warnapura and Mahela Jayawardena for the third wicket
and 148 for the fourth wicket between Jayawardena and Thilan Samaraweera.
Jayawardena played another captain’s innings in making his 23rd Test
hundred which came in 207 balls, 297 minutes with one six and 8 fours.It
was another century in the manner born which helped his team and
frustrated the Indians. He was finally out caught behind by Kathik for
136 off Sharma lunging forward.
In making his century, Jayawardena equalled Sir Donald Bradman’s
record of scoring the highest number of centuries in a single venue.
Sir Don made nine centuries at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 10
Tests. Jayawardena made 9 centuries at the SSC in 21 Tests. To recap,
play began on the second day after a frustrating first day where rain
robbed nearly five hours of play with the umpires calling “play” at 3.30
p.m. with 42 overs to be bowled.
But with 21 overs bowled play had to be halted for the day with Sri
Lanka losing two wickets for 85. Sri Lanka lost Vandort or 3 and
Sangakkara for 12. Vandort fell to Sharma and Sangakkara to Khan.
Malinda Warnapura had made his third unbeaten Test 50 and skipper
Mahela Jayawardena was with him on 16. There was a bit of cloud cover
around when play began on the second day and indications however was
that there would be a full day” s play. The game began 30 minutes early
so as to catch up for the time lost on the previous day.
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Thilan Samaraweera |
As the game progressed it was apparent that the wicket was going to
play easy.It was certainly not conducive to stroke play, being on the
slow side and it was going to be heartbreaking to the bowlers who were
not going to get any assistance from it.
Warnapura and Jayawardena played the bowling on its merits, cutting
out the frills and risks and made steady progress. A big responsibility
rested on them to consolidate, because the middle batting was somewhat
brittle.
Jayawardena was the more enterprising playing his signature drives on
the V with the ball speeding to the boundary. It was apparent the way
the way he was going that he was settling for a big innings and playing
his team into a position of strength.
Warnapura the left hander in the mean time was very steady and
waiting for the lose ball to unwind.
He too played with a lot of common sense and responsibility and
supported his captain well. Jayawardena reached his fifty in 129 minutes
with f fours and a six in 93 balls. He reached his half ton with a six
over mid on off the famed Harbhajan Singh.
Warnapura who was finding the gaps and hitting the boundaries when
the opportunity presented itself, reached another 100, his second in
Tests when he square cut a ball.
It was a richly deserved 100 and one which should encourage him to
make big scores such as this in the future.
Warnapura and Jayawardena were involved in a big stand of 155 for the
third wicket, when Warnapura went caught by Dravid in the slips when off
spinner Singh got one to bite and turn. He made 115 with 14 fours, 268
minutes and 202 balls. Warnapura and Jayawardena went to lunch at 205
for two with Warnapura on 110 and Jayawardena on 66.
At the fall of Warnapura’s wicket Thilan Samaraweera partnered
Jayawardena and took the score to 305 at tea without further loss with
Jayawardena on 105 and Samaraweera on 51.
SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS
(overnight 85-2):
M. Vandort c Karthik b Sharma 3
M. Warnapura c Dravid b Harbhajan 115
K. Sangakkara c Dravid b Zaheer 12
M. Jayawardene c Karthik b Sharma 136
T. Samaraweera not out 111
T. Dilshan not out 20
Extras (b4, lb5, nb16) 25
TOTAL (for 4 wickets) 422
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-7 (Vandort), 3-57 (Sangakkara), 3-212 (Warnapura), 4-360 (Jayawardene).
BOWLING: Zaheer 27-2-112-1 (nb10), Sharma 25-3-97-2, Ganguly 8-1-24-0, Harbhajan 29-2-88-1, Kumble 27-3-75-0 (nb6), Sehwag 4-0-17-0.
Umpires: Mark Benson (ENG) and Billy Doctrove (WIS)
TV umpire: Rudi Koertzen (RSA)
Match referee: Alan Hurst (AUS) |
