Depleted New Zealand battle for survival
There was no case of second-time-unlucky for Tillakaratne Dilshan, and a blazing century pushed a tummy-bug-hit New Zealand to the brink as the Galle Test entered its climactic phase
The Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran
21-Aug-2009
New Zealand 30 for 1 (Guptill 17*) and 299 (McIntosh 69, Murali 4-73, Thushara 4-81) need another 383 runs to beat Sri Lanka 452 and 259 for 4 dec (Dilshan 123*, Sangakkara 46*)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
There was no case of second-time-unlucky for Tillakaratne Dilshan, and a
blazing century pushed a tummy-bug-hit New Zealand to the brink as the
Galle Test entered its climactic phase. Having taken a 153-run lead, with
Muttiah Muralitharan taking his 100th wicket in Galle, Sri Lanka piled on
the misery either side of lunch, with stroke-filled cameos from Kumar
Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera buttressing
Dilshan's stunning effort. By tea, when the declaration came, the lead was
412 and with several batsmen ill, New Zealand's chances of survival were
very much dependent on the weather.
But though it rained for nearly an hour after tea, their task was made
harder as soon as play resumed, with Daniel Flynn - promoted to open as
Tim McIntosh was indisposed - brilliantly caught an inch off the ground by
Mahela. Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor, batting at No.3 for
the first time, defended stoutly to prevent further damage, before bad
light took the players off for the final time.
Sri Lanka had amassed 183 in the second session, and the tone was set in
the very first over after the interval, as Sangakkara took three fours off
Jacob Oram. At the other end, Dilshan eased to 50 from just 35 balls and greeted
Jeetan Patel with a paddle sweep for four. To worsen Patel's mood, Reece
Young, the substitute wicketkeeper, couldn't hold on when Dilshan opened
the face and tried to run one down to third man. He was on 62 at the time,
and New Zealand had plenty of time to reflect on the lapse.
With Sangakkara timing the ball so beautifully, the century partnership
took just 113 balls, and it required a massive stroke of luck for New
Zealand to break through. Dilshan drove one hard and low, and it just
brushed Daniel Vettori's fingers before crashing into the stumps with Sangakkara
a few inches short of his ground.
It was merely temporary respite though. Mahela announced himself with
a meaty mow over square leg, and as the batsmen continued to pick the gaps
with effortless ease, Vettori was forced into adopting a defensive line
for both himself and Patel - spearing the ball into the leg-stump rough.
Mahela continued to sweep, but Dilshan's scoring did stall as he did
little more than pad the ball away.
Once Dilshan dusted off the sweep and started to attack, New Zealand ran
out of options. Patel did finally get a wicket, as Mahela popped up a
return catch, but Samaraweera buried any thoughts of celebration
with two mighty leg-side swipes for six. He fell trying to repeat the feat
against Vettori, and the stage was then set for Dilshan to get the hundred
which eluded him in the first innings.
A single to mid-off got him there, and a fusillade of strokes followed.
Prasanna Jayawardene chipped in with cuts behind point, heaves over cover
and the odd edge, but it was Dilshan who ran the show, peppering the
boundaries as the 50 partnership came up in just 41 balls. By then, most
of the New Zealanders were looking as sick as Brendon McCullum and Jesse
Ryder, both of whom had been taken ill.
It hadn't taken Sri Lanka's bowlers long to wrap up New Zealand's first
innings. Murali had Iain O'Brien caught behind before Thilan Thushara came
back to take his fourth wicket of the innings, bowling Vettori off the
inside edge. Vettori's had been a desperate shot, but with the hapless
Chris Martin at the other end, he really had no option but to go for the
single off the last ball of the over.
It was desperation of another kind when Dilshan, who had clattered 92 from
72 balls in the first innings, arrived at the crease. Once again, New
Zealand had no answer to his aggression, and O'Brien appeared stunned when
he was hooked for six and then flayed for four through cover at the start
of the innings.
Tharanga Paranavitana went, edging to slip, but with Sangakkara caressing gorgeous
strokes through the covers, Dilshan was once again given the license to flirt
with the boundaries of Test-match batting. Both O'Brien and Martin
suffered as the ball was cut, square-driven and pulled ruthlessly each
time it was even fractionally off length. The deluge that came after tea
was nothing compared to what had gone before.
Dileep Premachandran is an associate editor at Cricinfo