Sunday, Apr 27, 2003
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Fleming's unconquered 11-hour knock puts him second on New Zealand's top scorers' list in 73 years of Test cricket, behind former skipper Martin Crowe's 299 against Sri Lanka at Wellington in 1991. Fleming's marathon lifted New Zealand to 515 for seven declared in its first innings, and paceman Darryl Tuffey struck in the first over to dismiss opener Marvan Atapattu for a duck. Sri Lanka was four for one when fading light forced an early draw of stumps after just 10 balls were bowled. Opener Sanath Jayasuriya and night watchman Chaminda Vaas had both scored two runs. Fleming later said he did not want to take risks to chase the record and give the Sri Lankan bowlers a chance to spoil his team's game plan. ``The record had crossed my mind, but I would've had to take some risks,'' he said, ``I'm more than happy at getting 274. I had always wanted us to get 500 runs and have a go at the Sri Lankans late in the evening,'' he said. Fleming's previous best Test score of 174 also came in Colombo, at the Premadase Stadium during the first Test of the 1998 series. The Black Caps rode on a captain's knock from Fleming to win that Test, but lost two subsequent matches to concede the series. New Zealand has not won a Test rubber in Sri Lanka since a 2-0 triumph in the first series between the two countries two decades ago. New Zealand has a 7-4 edge in Test encounters with Sri Lanka, which has won three of the last four rubbers. Prospering on a spate of dropped catches, Fleming cut loose in the afternoon session. Fleming and Scott Styris shared a brisk 157-run partnership for fourth wicket to bolster New Zealand's score after the fall of overnight batsman Mathew Sinclair to offspinner Kumar Dharmasena for 17. Styris posted a compact 63 before becoming Dharmasena's second victim. Benefiting from three dropped catches on the second day, Fleming added 162 runs to his overnight score of 112. He struck 28 boundaries and one huge six off ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan over mid-off to post his first double century in 74 Tests. The New Zealand captain could have been out in the day's second over, having added just one run when he hooked left-arm pacer Vaas, but debutant Prabath Nissanka at long-leg did not go for the catch. Nissanka even failed to stop the ball that bounced awkwardly and went over the boundary. Riding his luck with the hooks, Fleming on 121 saw a top-edged shot off Nissanka fly behind point, where Mahela Jayawardena fumbled the catch and floored it, after three desperate attempts to hold on to the ball. Fleming's overnight partner, Sinclair, got a life on 14 when Jayasuriya failed to snap an uppish square-cut off Vaas at gully. But this lapse did not cost Sri Lanka much as Dharmasena had him caught bat-pad by Kumar Sangakkara at forward short-leg for 17. Debutant legspinner Kaushalya Lokuarachchi came close to claiming his first Test wicket when he induced an edge off Fleming on 140, only to see Jayawardena at first slip drop the catch. Jayawardene's poor day in the field also saw an edged shot by Styris off Lokuarachchi fly between him and wicketkeeper Romesh Kaluwitharana. Styris, who was then on 16, opened up to lift Lokuarachchi for a six over long-on. Jayawardena again put Styris down off Muralitharan when he was on 57, leaving Sri Lanka's best bowler without any wicket in five sessions of the current match. Having done enough to calm Sri Lanka's spin threat, Fleming realised the Black Caps needed some brisk runs to pressure the rival batsmen. A six off Muralitharan saw Fleming cut loose and a pulled 22nd boundary off Dharmasena took him past the 200-run mark. Styris hit two sixes and five boundaries from 139 deliveries in his 172-ball innings that culminated when he lofted Dharmasena straight to Vaas as long-on. Dharmasena also trapped Daniel Vettori leg before on seven to finish with three wickets for 132. Muralitharan had to wait until the 55th over to make his first breakthrough, but finished with two for 140 by dismissing Jacob Oram for 33 and Robbie Hart for nine. AP
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