Eranga, Herath rattle England
LONDON: Sri Lanka transformed the complacent mood of the first Test at Lord's with a wonderful bowling performance which claimed five England wickets on the fourth afternoon and banished...
June 15, 2014
England led by 239 at tea, desperately needing further sustenance from the bottom half of the order. Sri Lanka's recovery was sparked by an excellent new-ball spell, comfortably the best of the match, by Shaminda Eranga who took the first three wickets as he bore the brunt of a 10-over spell on a cloudy, floodlit afternoon. After the incursions were made by his spell of 3 for 24, Rangana Herath rabbited into the hole with his left-arm slows to leave England shaken.
It was quite an achievement on a pitch that by and large remained as politely accoutred as a civilised guest at a St John's Wood soiree. Only by now it was behaving with the merest hint of unreliability, as if the first glass of red had been generously poured.
It could have been even better for Sri Lanka. Matt Prior was reprieved second ball, on nought, in the first innings when Sri Lanka narrowly failed to overturn the umpire's refusal of Herath's lbw appeal. Remarkably, the sequence was re-enacted in the second innings to Prior's third ball, as he pushed forward at a wide, round-arm delivery, umpire Bowden turning down the appeal as it thudded into his pad and Prior surviving, again by 'umpire's call', because the ball was not in line with off stump.
Eranga took his time to bowl himself into rhythm in this Test but, as England resumed 45 minutes before lunch with a lead of 122, he was at the peak of his game. They reached lunch unscathed, moved to 46 securely enough, but then five wickets tumbled for 56 in 15 overs.
Eranga defeated Alastair Cook's stiff-limbed forward push to have him caught at the wicket and, bowling with vigour from the Nursery End, then twice held his line up the Lord's slope to cause Sam Robson and Ian Bell to play on.
If the dismissals of Robson and Bell were identical, their mental approach was not. Robson, the young Middlesex opener on Test debut, has batted with suspicion throughout. He made 19 from 50 balls, largely through leg-side nurdles, and regarded deliveries outside off stump with mechanical distrust. If he makes it as a Test regular, he might prove to be an acquired taste.
Bell, by contrast, burst with confidence, playing with a suppleness Robson could only have dreamed of. His sweetness of touch was apparent from the start, but admiration was cut short before he had reached double figures. Perhaps there was over-confidence in his drive on the up but, as England's classiest batsman, he represented their best chance of achieving the impetus needed for a declaration before the close.
Such thoughts of a fourth-day declaration realistically departed with him. When Herath then dismissed Joe Root and Moeen Ali in successive overs, the chance again rose that Sri Lanka could indeed be batting again on the fourth evening - but by virtue of bowling England out. Herath's rotund shape and unthreatening countenance disguises his craft: indeed, it may be part of his deception.
Root, with a double-century behind him, was caught on the crease by one that turned to strike his back pad. Moeen, who had struck his first ball from Herath for six in the first innings, this time danced down the track to deposit him over mid-on for four. But there was a looseness in his defensive push at the following delivery and Herath turned the ball through the gate to bowl him.
Before lunch, Angelo Mathews became the second Sri Lanka batsman to add his name to the Lord's honours board in successive days as he completed a pugnacious century. Kumar Sangakkara had to wait until the closing phase of his career before finally making a Test hundred at Lord's. Mathews did so at the first attempt in an innings characterised by ebullient, bottom-hand blows, a vital innings which took Sri Lanka close enough to England's first innings to make their anticipated declaration on the final day all the trickier.
Mathews reached his third hundred in Tests with a full-blooded smite through the off side as James Anderson served up a low, wide full toss. He was out in the next over, to the next ball he faced, as Liam Plunkett had him lbw with a ball of full length, Mathews' decision to review the decision failing to spare him.
England would be satisfied to have removed Sri Lanka's last three wickets for 38 runs in 14.4 overs, but their tactics invited discussion. Mathews was starting a new day, but England saw only the swagger of his unbeaten 79 on Saturday afternoon. They encouraged him to get off strike, preferring boundary riders to slips, and concentrated on battering the tail.
Of the 17 balls Herath faced, only the last one, a near-yorker from James Anderson which crashed into his middle stump, was full length. Stuart Broad, by contrast, was short and uncompromising. One ball clattered into his glove and helmet, but fell safely into the off side.
