Rain denies Sri Lanka victory

Rain denied Sri Lanka the chance to take the series against England 2-0, forcing them to settle for a 1-0 scoreline which scarcely conveyed their dominance of the contest. They will be content with their series victory, however, which moves them above England in the ICC Test rankings. England secured a measure of pride by avoiding the sort of collapse they had endured in their first-innings, but knew that another 10 overs of play could easily have been sufficient for their hosts to complete the job.

England had coasted through most of the morning session, though things might have been different if Prasanna Jayawardene had held an early catch down the leg-side off Alastair Cook. Ian Bell soon received a big off-break from Muttiah Muralitharan that crept along the ground, but Cook and Kevin Pietersen were untroubled for the next 22 overs, and indeed scored at a decent pace too. Cook, unusually, took a very slight lead role, contributing 33 from the 71 balls he faced to Pietersen’s 30 from 66. With the prospect of rain ever-present, they appeared to have guided their team somewhere close to safety.

Everything changed in Muralitharan’s 25th over, the 65th of the innings. Off the third ball, Pietersen walked down the pitch and slammed one into Mahela Jayawardene’s hands at short-mid-wicket. After several dismissals this series for which no blame could be apportioned to him, he was visibly annoyed at throwing his wicket away. Collingwood lasted 2 deliveries, wandering down the pitch, being completely beaten by the wrong-‘un, and stumped easily by Prasanna Jayawardene. Off the final ball, Bopara edged just to the right of slip, mistakenly thought the ball had passed the fielder (Mahela Jayawardene again) and wandered up the pitch. Jayawardene grabbed the ball brilliantly, got it to his namesake in an instant, and the wicketkeeper whipped-off the bails. Bopara had registered a forlorn pair.

Cook and Prior managed to make it to lunch without further mishap, and continued to play sensibly after lunch, Cook completing the first century by an Englishman in the series at just about the last possible moment. Before long the clouds were hovering, and shortly after Sri Lanka had taken the second new ball it poured down once again.

It did stop, and 9 further overs were bowled. In Chanaka Welegedara’s 94th, Cook was dropped again by Kumar Sangakkara (the second time fielder has reprieved batsman this series) but he edged again 2 balls later, this time into the safe gloves of Prasanna Jayawardene. After another over, however, the rain returned, and there was no way back the second time. England knew they were exceedingly fortunate to escape with a draw, but ultimately it changed little for them, and for the first time since 2003 they fell back from 2nd place on the Test rankings.

Sri Lanka’s captain was an indisputable choice for Man of the Match, his 213* a tall poppy among violets in a Test limited to just 275 overs. It was a far from ideal way for Test cricket to return to Galle, but after the horrors of 3 years ago, the cricket World has seen the fruits of a hugely impressive rebuilding effort. The ground can only go from strength to strength from here.

Sri Lanka 499 for 8 declared
Kumar Sangakkara 46, Mahela Jayawardene 213*, Tillakaratne Dilshan 84, Chaminda Vaas 90

England 81
Chaminda Vaas 4-28

England 251 for 6
Alastair Cook 118
Muttiah Muralitharan 3-91

Match drawn