Sidebottom out-lasts Pietersen
Andrew Miller provides the plays of the fifth and final day at Galle
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Catch of the day
Mahela Jayawardene's low pluck at short midwicket to remove Kevin
Pietersen. He didn't have to move so it was routine in most senses,
but it travelled like a bullet and had been tossed a mile in the air
almost before anyone had registered what had happened. Pietersen
trudged off ruing the vagaries of fortune. For the first time in his
career, he's failed to make a fifty in a completed Test series.
Over of the day
At every critical juncture of this series, England have faltered and
Sri Lanka have surged. So it proved in a thrilling over before lunch,
when the menace of Muttiah Muralitharan combined with the fear of the
English batsmen to produce a catastrophic implosion. Pietersen's
dismissal had created a ripple of disquiet, but when Paul Collingwood
was confounded by the doosra and stumped by two feet, a precipice
opened up beneath England's innings and poor Ravi Bopara stumbled
straight in. A panicky edge, a stuttered attempt at a run, a thrilling
pounce, a despairing backflip, a gleeful whip of the bails. Suddenly
England were embracing oblivion for the second innings running.
Drop of the day
Prasanna Jayawardene has been a picture of anonymity in the field,
which for a wicketkeeper can only be a good thing - Matt Prior can
only dream of the day he's not got a mention in the morning papers.
Even so, he produced something of a blooper in the second over of the
morning, when Alastair Cook had added just one run to his overnight
53. The ball was fired down the leg-side, and brushed the face of the
bat as Cook shaped to glance. But Jayawardene missed his moment, and
England's survival prospects lived on.
Innings of the day
England hadn't gone through an entire Test series without at least one
centurion since they were overturned by New Zealand in 1999. That
result, coincidentally, left England rock-bottom in the world
rankings, so symbolically it was rather important that someone -
anyone - stood up to be counted today. The honour eventually went to
Cook, who doesn't turn 23 until Christmas Day. Yet has now racked up
seven centuries in his young career, which equals Javed Miandad at the
same age. Only Bradman and Tendulkar, with eight, have managed more.
That's some illustrious company.
Self-publicising numpty of the day
Yesterday, a banner appeared on the fort which caught the attention of
the England team - Cook included, who commented on it after the match.
Today, clearly chuffed by the amount of publicity his little stunt had
generated, the same chap turned his sheet around, and scrawled: "15
days of torture - thanks for nothing England". Pillock. If you're that
bored of the cricket, go and sit on the beach. Or walk around the
fort. Or lounge on a shady verandah. Or go home to damp, freezing
Blighty.
Stat of the day
Ryan Sidebottom (253 balls) faced more deliveries in the
series than Pietersen (250). There are England's shortcomings in
a nutshell.
Andrew Miller is UK editor of Cricinfo
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