Against what seemed to be the odds, Sri Lanka have survived to take the second Test into a fourth day. Faced with a massive first-innings deficit of 397, and following-on for the second successive match, they showed a determination that had been far from evident in their three previous innings in this series.
There was an excellent 60, spread over almost four hours, from the compact, busy opener Kaushal Silva (who in the spirit of bald men being called Curly, could be known as Long John), a more robust 80 from the captain, Angelo Mathews, whose brilliant century at Headingley on their last tour was instrumental in his team’s success then, and an unbeaten 54 from Dinesh Chandimal, who reached his half-century with a creamy cover drive in the quarter of an hour England had with the second new ball at the end of the day.
It enabled Sri Lanka to reach stumps on 309 for five, with Milinda Siriwardana, a duck in the first innings, on 35, he and Chandimal having added an unbroken partnership of 87 for the sixth wicket.
They are 88 runs away from making England bat again, but may open the curtains on Monday morning with more than passing interest: the third day finished with the Riverside bathed in sunshine but there is bad weather afoot. Sri Lanka will hope it arrives sooner rather than later.
Following Moeen Ali’s Saturday century cameo, Sri Lanka had faltered against the pace of Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and now Chris Woakes, and began the third day on 91 for eight, soon to become 101 all out, Broad four for 40, within 15 minutes of the restart. With innings of 91 and 119 at Headingley preceding it, the statisticians had to trawl back to 1958 – when at Lord’s and Leeds, New Zealand, undone by Jim Laker and Tony Lock, made successive scores of 47, 74 and 67 – to find the last time a team made three successive scores under 120. That there might then even have been a debate about the merits or otherwise of enforcing the follow-on would have been a surprise, not least given the forecast.
Those same statisticians did not have to go back quite so far to find the last instance when England were not only in a position to enforce the follow-on but actually did so in successive matches: to 2009 in fact, when Andrew Strauss did so against West Indies at Lord’s and then Chester-le-Street, resulting in wins for his team by 10 wickets and an innings and 83 runs respectively.
Silva’s intent was evident from the start for it is axiomatic of good batting that even defence carries with it a sense of purpose. He might be diminutive in stature but he judged the length well, stood out of his crease to negate any movement and got a good stride in as well when necessary, following each stroke – even the defensive ones – with a couple of urgent strides down the pitch. Such attitude conveys the message that the batsman means business.
He had added 38 for the first wicket with Dimuth Karunaratne, riches, until Woakes, who has been excellent and certainly England’s quickest bowler, had him caught at second slip. Immediately after lunch, Kusal Mendis, young and a promising part of Mathews’s rebuilding, was undone by a fine ball from Anderson, who having been hit for three chastening fours in five balls, found the edge as if it was part of the masterplan.
When Lahiru Thirimanne was drawn forward by Moeen to be beaten and bowled by the turn, Sri Lanka were 100 for three and seemed to be heading for another three-day defeat.
Now, though, Silva and Mathews embarked on the first of several partnerships that were frustrating for England, adding 82 for the fourth wicket. Mathews had been within a whisker of being caught by Joe Root at slip before he had scored, the ball just failing to carry cleanly, and went on to attack Moeen, hacking him agriculturally over the top. Meanwhile Silva had leg-glanced Steven Finn fine to the boundary to reach a half-century from 111 balls.
This was not a good day for Finn, whose bowling at present is frustratingly mercurial. For four overs from the Finchale End, he bowled like someone happy just to get the ball from one end to the other without mishap although a later spell from the Lumley End was more purposeful, with the crease hit harder and his follow-through longer. It brought him Silva’s wicket, the batsman top-edging high to Jonny Bairstow as he attempted to turn a short ball to the leg side. Finn remains an obvious problem, though, and there must be a chance that Jake Ball could replace him for the third Test. Unfortunately the scheduling means that Middlesex do not have another first-class match for almost a month, so any remedial cricket will be limited to the white ball.
Mathews, on 36 and advancing down the pitch to Moeen after tea, was fortunate to survive a stumping chance for Bairstow, the ball, yorker length, going past the outside edge. Shortly before Silva’s dismissal Mathews reached his own half century, from 63 balls, with six fours and a six.
It took more special bowling from Anderson to remove him when he had a hundred in his sights, the edge found to give another catch to Bairstow. Anderson jumped and punched the air in delight and on a bright evening, England might have had the sniff of a chance of finishing the game. But Chandimal and Siriwardana, showing admirable composure for someone coming to the crease on a pair, saw them to stumps.
(The Guardian)
