Monty Panesar took two wickets in the final session to maintain England’s grip on the first Test at Lord’s on Saturday and leave Sri Lanka needing a great escape to salvage a draw.
Left-arm spinner Panesar combined with wicket-keeper Geraint Jones to get rid of danger men Upul Tharanga (52) and Kumar Sangakkara (65) in what was the 24-year-old bowler’s home Test debut.
At stumps on the third day Sri Lanka, following on, were 183-3, still 176 runs behind England’s imposing first-innings 551-6 declared.
”Realistically, there are six sessions left in the match. It will be tough but stranger things have happened on a cricket field,” wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara told reporters.
”But if we do get out of it, it will be one of the great escapes in Test cricket.”
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene, who had top scored in the first innings with 61, was 35 not out and Farveez Maharoof, the nightwatchman, unbeaten on five.
Tharanga and Sangakkara restored some pride for Sri Lanka with a partnership of 109, which rescued their side from the depths of 10-1.
The left-handers’ stand was timely with former captain Sanath Jayasuriya announcing he was ready to end his Test retirement, watching from the boundary.
Their combined effort was a Sri Lankan record for the second-wicket against England, surpassing the 92 shared by Marvan Atapattu and Sangakkara at Galle in 2000/2001.
At tea, Sri Lanka were 93-1, with Tharanga on 41 and Sangakkara 30.
Tharanga went to his fifty with a sweetly-timed cover-driven four off England captain Andrew Flintoff.
But Panesar, the first Sikh to play Test cricket for England, cramped Tharanga for room and Jones did the rest to leave Sri Lanka 119-2.
Sangakkara then completed his fifty before he fell, having batted for nearly four hours.
”He is a good bowler,” said Sangakkara of Panesar. ”He’s not afraid to get wickets, go round the wicket to right-handers and give the ball air against lefties. He seems to have worked out the basics quite well.”
Panesar was then unlucky not to dismiss Maharoof for nought after Andrew Flintoff appeared to take a clean catch at silly point.
Earlier, Matthew Hoggard took his 200th Test wicket as Sri Lanka were dismissed for 192 in their first innings — 160 runs shy of the follow-on target of 352.
”It’s great to be up there on 200 wickets with the legends of the game who got there before me,” said the 29-year-old Yorkshireman, the senior bowler in his team’s injury-hit attack. ”It’s nice when extra responsibility is dropped on my shoulders.”
Hoggard, who finished with first-innings figures of 4-27, soon struck again.
The often under-rated swing specialist, brought one back into left-hander Jehan Mubarak who was bowled off an inside edge for six.
Sri Lanka started Saturday in the dire position of 91-6 and only tail-end stands of 44 and 61 took them to three figures. — AFP
