Sri Lanka Save Face

Sri Lanka managed to save the Third Test at the Rose Bowl in Southampton, with credit going to the forecast rain, to England not accepting all the chances they created and some steely batting from the Sri Lankan batsmen.

Chief among the batting heroes was Kumar Sangakkara, a man who wore the captain's cap again in this match after a finger injury removed Dilshan from the match. The previous captain, Sangakkara stood down after the World Cup, in part to prolong his already glorious career but also in order to seek relief from a role which disturbed him to the point of depression. His first innings dismissal reeked of a man distracted and he has batted with none of usual crisp strokeplay and confidence throughout a series where the English pace attack have dominated. The playing fields of England have had a happy knack of bringing down the best of batsmen: Reference Doug Walters or Ricky Ponting as a starting point in the argument. So it has been with Sangakkara, who before this match had only 376 at 26 in the Old Dart and not a century to be found. A definite black spot in a career which has averaged 56 in 97 Test matches.

In the light of all that, Sangakkara's batting in the second innings was the stuff of champions. It wasn't perfect, chanceless batting but it was heroic. He found an able ally in an unexpected quarter when Rangana Herath batted for an hour and a half after facing the night watchman music the span>night before. The time he spent in the middle, in the context of a day shortened to only four hours batting, went a long way to saving the game, as Sangakkara could never have done this alone. 

After they had frustrated England in a 75 run stand, the partnership which defined the draw came with Tilan Samaraweera. It was batting on either side of the second new ball and whilst they were secure, they didn't forget that batting is about scoring runs and the more they scored, the safer they became. Sangakkara had a close shave when Anderson steamed in with the new cherry, edging over slip, but beyond that, this experienced pair negotiated almost all the way to tea. It was Sangakkara who was fooled by a ball which Anderson held back slightly and he drove loosely to point where Rouse, substituting for Broad, held the catch. By then, the skies were rumbling a reassuring chorus and Prasanna only had time to edge Anderson through a vacant third slip before tea ended it.

England secure their fifth consecutive series victory and may feel it should have been more convincing than 1-0. In truth, their pace attack was too much for Sri Lanka until this last day of the series and their batting stronger and more consistent. Both sides are off to a month of silly cricket before India beckons England back to Lords.