Sanga’s Cool Quells Lee’s Fire

A Kumar Sangakkara 100 and a defiant 80 from Marvin Atapattu kept Sri Lanka in the hunt to make history at stumps on day four of the second Test.

Sri Lanka will resume tomorrow at 247 for three, with the sublime Sangakkara not out on 109 and the dangerous Sanath Jayasuriya on 33. They require a further 260 runs for the unlikeliest of victories, after Ricky Ponting declared Australia?s second innings at 210 for 2, an overall lead of 506.

It was a day?s play which looked like belonging to Phil Jaques, threatened to be dominated by Brett Lee but ended with the abiding memory of Sangakkara?s great century.

Resuming on 111 for one, Australia were quickly into stride, with Jaques continuing his fine form as he marched on to 69 before falling to an excellent catch by Michael Van Doort from the bowling of Lasith Malinga. The fall of Jaques brought no relief for Sri Lanka who, a bowler short owing to Maharoof?s ankle injury, could not stem the flow of runs from either Ponting (53 not out) or Mike Hussey (34 not out).

Ponting?s declaration was timely, leaving the visitors an uncomfortable 35 minutes to bat ahead of lunch. Mitchell Johnson made the most of the short spell, producing a 145 kph brute of a bouncer which Van Doort could only half-heartedly attempt to pull as a means of self-preservation. With one hand coming off the bat, the ball ballooned gently to point where substitute Lockyer took an easy catch.

After lunch Sangakkara and Atapattu picked up the scoring rate, taking the score from 23 for one at the resumption to 141 for one at tea. During the middle session, both batsmen were particularly harsh on the hapless Stuart MacGill, who ended the day with the unflattering figures of none for 93 from only 16 overs. MacGill has never been as accurate as his blonde-haired leg spinning predecessor, but today was one of the worst performances of his hitherto successful career. Repeatedly either over-or-under pitching, MacGill was cannon fodder for the increasingly confident Sri Lankans, though in fairness it should be noted that MacGill did spend some time off the field before bowling. He never appeared comfortable, even when he wasn?t examining his bowling figures on the score board.

But MacGill?s difficulties should not detract from the efforts of Atapattu or Sangakkara, who grew in confidence as the day wore on. The merit in their innings’ was not so much their attacking of MacGill, but the manner in which they were able to repel the menacing triumvirate of Lee, Johnson and Stuart Clark, all of whom bowled accurately on a largely unresponsive pitch.

Throughout the middle session, Australia keenly felt the absence of Andrew Symonds, whose injury kept him from the bowling crease, and indeed off the field all day. How Ponting would have loved to have Symonds at his disposal, sending down either handy off spin or his useful medium pacers to provide further variation to Australia?s attack.

With Australia flagging, Lee produced another hostile, incisive spell for his captain after tea. With the ball beginning to reverse swing, both Johnson and Lee bowled brilliantly, and it was only the skill of (principally) Sangakkara which kept them out. Lee, easily the bowler of the series had Atapattu caught at deep square leg by Jaques from a mis-timed pull shot. It was just reward for a stunning burst of sustained speed, but more importantly consistent control.

Lee was not yet finished, however, bowling Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene first ball with a reverse inswinging Yorker which the in-form batsman left, only to see it curve wickedly towards him and take off stump. A stunning dismissal which seemed to take the game back Australia?s way.

Jayasuriya survived the hat-trick ball and after some early concerns against Johnson in particular, was soon looking something like his old self as he and Sangakkara saw the visitors through to stumps with relative ease.

Through the travails of the afternoon, Sangakkara stood tall. Averaging over 100 this year in test matches, he is a class player in sublime form. His footwork to MacGill, ability to defend against quality fast bowling, and where appropriate to put those quicks away when they deserved it confirms his standing as one of the finest players in world cricket. Bare in mind that this was an innings played by a man who had only just come back from injury, had little cricket under his belt, was under extreme pressure with his team facing defeat and was made against the leading team in world cricket.

Kumar Sangakkara will no doubt sleep well tonight, but he must know that history beckons. His audacious brilliance sees Sri Lanka in with a shot at smashing the world record for a fourth innings chase to win. Nevertheless, no side has come close to such a target, and Australia knows it is only one or two wickets away from exposing a Sri Lankan middle and lower order which is short on runs and on confidence.

The hosts are still favourites, but absent Warne and McGrath for the first time in a tense fourth innings, Ponting will be hoping that Lee?s improvement continues at a rapid rate.

Stumps Day 4
Sri Lanka 247/3
Sri Lanka require a further 260 runs to win with 7 wickets remaining.