Sport

Murali swings the game for Sri Lanka

— PHOTO: AFP

TIMELY STRIKE: Muttiah Muralitharan and his teammates celebrate the dismissal of Ian Bell on the fifth day of the first Test on Wednesday.

KANDY: England fought to the last man Matthew Hoggard, in pain, limping and using a runner to save his tormented back in a day-long attempt to halt defeat in the first Test against Sri Lanka but a final burst by Muttiah Muralitharan swung the game in the darkening final hour on Wednesday.

It was the right result but it swung on controversial umpiring decisions; but what use to complain about umpiring failures when they usually even out. They did here as James Anderson should have been given out on Tuesday and Ryan Sidebottom was dismissed lbw even though there was a big inside edge.

For a long time it looked as if Murali was once again going to bowl through a fourth innings without creating the victory his reputation suggests. At least seven times in his long career he has failed to force a win on the final day of a Test but it is ridiculous to criticise that aspect of his play when he has been the match-winner so often. “We fought really hard today,” said the England captain Michael Vaughan, wearing the fixed grin that betrays a polite fib. “We have to pull out all the stops in the second match to draw level.

Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan skipper, was delighted with the return to form after two defeats in Australia. “We had to be patient and then the new ball did the trick for us.”

England had already lost Alastair Cook overnight when it resumed needing 341 which was not a realistic target but in the first half hour Vaughan had been caught behind and the nightwatchman Anderson bowled; three wickets to Chaminda Vass looking as innocuous as only a long-in-the-tooth cunning old bowler can.

Kevin Pietersen tried a few adventurous shots before he was fourth out at 55 but Ian Bell had already laid down his marker. You never doubted that he was going to sell his wicket hard. Paul Collingwood went, like Pietersen, to Dilhara Fernando but the new boy Ravi Bopara batted an hour for 34 before he gave Sanath Jayasuriya his 98th and last Test wicket.

It has been a while since Matthew Prior made a serious contribution to the England score but on Wednesday he batted through gritted teeth; two and a half hours of trench warfare in a stand of 109 with Bell, still there, still determined, still refusing to lie down.

Jayawardene had tried everything legal to force victory but it was the new ball that gave his quick men an extra foot of pace and Murali another inch of lift. Murali found a way through the defences of both Prior and then Bell, after an epic battle for 300 minutes to gather the top score of 74.

That ended any foolish talk of scoring 100 runs in the last 80 minutes as the arrival of the limping, pale and clearly reluctant Hoggard gave Sri Lanka two problems. He wanted a runner, treatment and enough rest to recover after each ball. They allowed each time out without a murmur although they were clearly fidgeting as the minutes slipped away.

Murali was handed Sidebottom’s wicket by umpire Asad Rauf who was roundly booed for that decision. The haggard Hoggard, looking every inch the wounded soldier, was yorked by Malinga with no more than 20 minutes play remaining.

Kumar Sangakkara was man of the low-scoring match for 244 runs. His batting has given Sri Lanka a new superstar in the middle order to replace Aravinda de Silva. It suggests a golden age for its run-scorers and yet more problems for England as it tries to fight its way back into the series.

Sri Lanka - 1st innings: 188.

England - 1st innings: 281.

Sri Lanka - 2nd innings: 442 for eight decl.

England - 2nd innings: A. Cook c Silva b Vaas 4, M. Vaughan c P. Jayawardene b Vaas 5, J. Anderson b Vaas 11, I. Bell b Muralitharan 74, K. Pietersen b Fernando 18, P. Collingwood c Sangakkara b Fernando 16, R. Bopara lbw b Jayasuriya 34, M. Prior b Muralitharan 63, R. Sidebottom lbw b Muralitharan 1, M. Hoggard b Malinga 8, M. Panesar (not out) 2, Extras (b-5, lb-9, nb-11): 25; Total (in 94 overs): 261.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-22, 3-27, 4-55, 5-90, 6-139, 7-248, 8-249, 9-253.

Sri Lanka bowling: Vaas 17-3-56-3, Malinga 15-3-39-1, Muralitharan 36-12-85-3, Jayasuriya 14-6-28-1, Fernando 12-1-39-2.

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