Marvan Atapattu defied medical advice and went into bat on Tuesday to help skipper Hashan Tillakaratne as Sri Lanka rallied to 267 for seven at tea on the fourth day after New Zealanders Jacob Oram and offspinner Paul Wiseman rocked the middle order.
Carried off the field in an ambulance on Monday following a midfield collision with New Zealander Daniel Vettori that landed them both in hospital, vice captain Atapattu strode to the crease at the fall of the seventh wicket.
Tillakaratne’s unbeaten 71 steadied the home team and took Sri Lanka within 38 runs of New Zealand’s first-innings total of 305. The first five sessions of the match were lost due to rain and a soggy outfield.
Keeping him company at tea was Atapattu on two after 10 minutes of stout defence. He had been advised complete rest by the doctors after suffering concussion and an ankle injury during the collision with Vettori.
Vettori injured his left ankle in the mid-pitch crash and was ordered by the team management to remain in bed, even though it restricted the Black Caps’ bowling options.
But Vettori’s absence was not felt much as Oram and Wiseman took two wickets apiece.
Wiseman started the Sri Lankan slide dismissing opener Sanath Jayasuriya (82) and allrounder Kumar Dharmasena (5), while paceman Shane Bond dismissed Romesh Kaluwitharana in the morning session to leave the home team struggling at 195 for five at lunch.
Wiseman’s offspinners elicited edges from former skipper Jayasuriya and all-rounder Dharmasena into the hands of lone slip Stephen Fleming.
Jayasuriya’s blazing 169-minute innings included 14 boundaries but ended with a misjudged defensive shot.
Kaluwitharana’s hour-long innings of 20 ended in a miscued hook against Bond that went straight to Daryl Tuffey at long leg.
Oram removed Kaushalya Lokuarachchi for 20, caught by Tuffey at the long-leg fence, and bowled Chaminda Vaas for 22, prompting Atapattu to go into bat.
Tillakaratne, whose captain’s knock of 144 rescued Sri Lanka from following-on in the drawn first test in Colombo, played another defiant innings. He hit nine boundaries off 211 balls in his unbeaten six-hour innings. – Sapa-AP