Feature

When Jayawardene and Sangakkara disagree

Plays of the Day from the second ODI between Sri Lanka and South Africa, in Colombo

Robin Peterson had a cheeky Mahela Jayawardene bowled through the legs  •  Associated Press

Robin Peterson had a cheeky Mahela Jayawardene bowled through the legs  •  Associated Press

The nutmeg
The reverse sweep now numbers among Mahela Jayawardene's favourite strokes, and he has become so confident at playing it, he occasionally ventures it against fast bowlers. He attempted the stroke one too many times against Robin Peterson though, and the bowler did to Jayawardene what Maradona regularly did to defenders in his heyday. As Jayawardene went down for the shot, knees asunder, Peterson darted the ball through his legs and hit the stumps behind him.
The beamer
With all the armour batsmen are dressed in today, plenty have become adept at sending chest-high beamers over the leg side and into the fence. Dinesh Chandimal considered no such thing when Ryan McLaren delivered an uncommonly vicious ball in the 46th over. Coming out of the wayward hand at 125 kph, the ball headed straight towards Chandimal's face, and having seen it late, Chandimal had to sway rapidly out of the way, losing his balance and finishing up on the turf. Slightly dazed, he looked up in time to see McLaren apologising from across the pitch.
The gamble
Tillakaratne Dilshan has not been at his best with the bat in recent months, but his bowling has improved to the extent he might almost be termed an allrounder in the last 18 months. He tossed one up to AB de Villiers in the 12th over, and extracted good turn to evade the batsman's sweep, and struck him on the front pad. A big appeal ensued, and though it was initially turned down, Dilshan implored both Kumar Sangakkara and Dinesh Chandimal to review the decision. Sri Lanka have burnt reviews on Dilshan's insistence before, but the pair reluctantly agreed with the bowler and were soon overjoyed when South Africa's most dangerous batsman was found to be out.
The domestic dispute
Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene are about as thick as any two cricketers around the world, but had enough of a dispute in South Africa's innings to leave their captain unsure of how to react. David Miller struck Jehan Mubarak for consecutive twos to wide long-on in the eighteenth over, with Jayawardene having to run around to collect the ball. After receiving the return from the second two, Sangakkara piped up in frustration, signaling to Jayawardene that he should have been squarer to begin with, and should not have allowed a second. Jayawardene yelled back dismissively, and with equal displeasure, pointing back to the place he had been standing. Both men looked towards Chandimal for a final ruling, but he wore an expression of deep discomfort at seeing the two seniors argue, and simply said nothing. It's always tough to see your parents fight.

Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo's Sri Lanka correspondent. He tweets here