Fleming double ton puts New Zealand in control

Stephen Fleming battled through searing heat and sapping humidity to score 274 not out, the second-highest score by a New Zealander in Test cricket. It was a patient marathon spanning nearly ten hours, and it left New Zealand in a commanding position against Sri Lanka at the close of play on day two.

After four sessions of plodding Test cricket, the game turned decisively as Fleming pressed down on the accelerator in the second afternoon. He added 157 in 272 balls with Scott Styris, playing as a specialist batsman after injuring his shoulder in the warm-up games, and then 72 in 108 with Jacob Oram.

New Zealand piled up a massive 515 for seven before declaring - the third-highest total against Sri Lanka by New Zealand - twenty minutes before the scheduled close. Fleming selflessly denied himself the chance to surpass the 299 scored by Martin Crowe against Sri Lanka in 1990-1, the highest score by a New Zealander in Test cricket.

Left with a tricky six overs before the close of play, with thunderclouds gathering around the ground for the first time in the match, Marvan Atapattu was trapped lbw for a duck by Darryl Tuffey. It was a poor decision by Darryl Harper - the ball was slanting down the leg side. Fortunately for Sri Lanka, further damage was prevented as bad light forced the players from the field in the second over.

Sri Lanka's hopes of a tenth consecutive Test win on home soil were thus extinguished. Their objective now was to avoid defeat - and before that, to avoid the follow on.

Fleming admitted that he could not read Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka's star offspinner, but he grew more dominant against him as the day progressed. After hours of reaching forward and smothering the spin with bat or pad, he started to attack: a crisp cover-drive in the first over after lunch was followed by a straight six in Muralitharan's next over.

He enjoyed his fair share of good fortune. Sri Lanka's fielding was atrocious, with a total of eight clear catches being floored in the innings. Mahela Jayawardene, considered one of the safest pair of hands in the side, was the chief offender, spilling three in the day and four in the innings.

Had Jayawardene held on to his juggling effort running backwards from gully when Fleming was on 121, Sri Lanka's predicament might not have been so gloomy. He missed out on a chance to redeem himself, failing to hold onto a tougher chance at slip when Fleming had made 141.

Fleming found a willing partner in Styris, who raised the tempo well. Actively searching out opportunities to score, he used his feet well to the spinners, hitting two straight sixes. He made 63 from 139 balls before lofting a catch to Chaminda Vaas on the long-on boundary (392 for 4).

Muralitharan, exasperated on Friday after three catches were dropped off his bowling, claimed his first wicket in his 55th over, when Oram, looking to score quick runs before the declaration, top-edged a sweep and was caught at deep square leg (471 for 5).

Muralitharan then mopped up Robbie Hart, who was caught by a diving Jayawardene at short leg, to finish with two for 140 from 58.5 overs. His fellow offspinner, Kumar Dharmasena, chipped in with the wicket of Daniel Vettori to finish with 3 for 132 from 40 overs - the best figures among the Sri Lankan bowlers.

The only wicket to fall during the morning session had been that of Matthew Sinclair, who looked uncomfortable against Vaas. Armed with a new ball just seven overs old, Vaas had an edge fall short of Romesh Kaluwitharana, and then watched in horror as Sinclair squirted a low catch to gully only for Sanath Jayasuriya to do a Jayawardene. Finally, as Tillakaratne turned back to his spinners, Sinclair offered a dolly catch to short leg (235 for three).