Murali had England well and truly grasped
By A.C. De Silva
FLASHBACK: England took on Sri Lanka at The Oval, August 27th to
31st, 1998 and what a Test match it turned out to be! Sri Lanka captain
Arjuna Ranatunga pulled a surprise out of his bag and opted to field.
|
England middle-order batsman J.P. Crawley is bowled by
Muralitharan for 14 in the second innings in the total of
181. In the first innings Crawley made 156 not out in the
total of 445. |
This seemed to be a challenge. England had a glimpse of Muttiah
Muralitharan during Sri Lanka's triumphant 1996 World Cup campaign, and
in the preceding triangular one-day tournament, but had not faced him in
a Test for more than five years.
Sri Lanka won the match by 10 wickets. England made 445 and 181 and
Sri Lanka 591 and 37 for no loss.The much talked of Sri Lanka spinner
Muttiah Muralitharan was quite confident about himself. "We won the
triangular tournament against South Africa and England and I got wickets
in each of our matches against Glamorgan and Leicester. So, I was ready
for the clash."
Alec Stewart's home ground didn't do him any favours. A dry pitch,
which would offer more than the traditional end-of-summer turn at The
Oval greeted Sri Lanka.
The pitch appeared to be nice and hard and it appeared to the
Englishmen that it would respond to spin.
England were 81 for 3 wickets in their first innings and it was at
that stage that Graeme Hick (107) and James Crawley (156 not out) put on
128 runs for the fourth wicket and runs came their way on a perfect
batting pitch. With both Hick and Crawley playing attractive cricket,
England were able to get to 445 before being all out.
For the Sri Lankans the bowler who caused the damage was Muralitharan
who claimed 7 for 155 in a fine spell.
It was Muralitharan again with his mystery spinners who troubled the
Englishman again and he came with the marvellous figures of 9 for 65 and
England were shot out for 181 runs in 129.2 overs in the second innings.
For England, M.R. Ramprakash (42) top scored white A.J. Stewart made
32. The English batsmen played into the hands of Muttiah Muralitharan
who rounded up the match with a jolly good take of 16 wickets for 220
runs to bring victory for the Sri Lankans.
There was of course, the batting of Sanath Jayasuriya, Aravinda de
Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga who put in their runs for Sri Lanka so that
Sri Lanka were able to win the match. Came Sri Lanka's turn to bat and
opening left-hand batsman Sanath Jayasuriya was seen in a effervescent
mood and he went on to make a double century (213) from 278 balls,
hitting in the process 33 fours and a six.
Sri Lanka got runs very quickly.
There was the possibility that England would somewhat take the upper
hand after their fine score of 445, but it was not to be and the
Englishmen were finding it difficult to keep the Sri Lankan batsmen
quiet with Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva (152) making runs at
will. It was great to watch the Lankan due hitting at will.
Sri Lanka batted and got runs very quickly. At the early stages it
was felt that English team would toss the game, but it was not to be and
it was great to watch the Sri Lankan due of Jayasuriya and Aravinda de
Silva beat and get runs with ease.
Then there was Sri Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga (51) who threw in
his weight and he gave the much needed push and later A.S.A. Perera made
43 not out and in the 'tail' Muttiah Muralitharan hit 30 and Sri Lanka
had a grand total of (59) which gave them a strong hold on the match.
For England, the wickets were shared Fraser took 3 for 95, Holliake 2
for 105 and Gough 2 for 102.
SCOREBOARD
ENGLAND 1ST INNINGS
M.A. Butcher c Jayasuriya b Wickramasinghe 10
S.P. James c and b Muralitharan 36
G.A. Hick c Kaluwitharana b Wickremasinghe 107
A.J. Stewart c Tillekeratne b Perera 02
M.R. Ramprakash c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 53
J.P. Crawley not out 156
B.C. Hollioake c Atapattu b Muralitharan 14
D.G. Cork b Muralitharan 06
I.D.K. Salisbury b Muralitharan 02
D Gough c Kaluwitharana b Muralitharan 04
A.R.C. Fraser b Muralitharan 32
EXTRAS (b1, lb11, w2, nb9) 23
TOTAL (158.3 overs) 445
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-16, 2-78, 3-81, 4-209, 5-230, 6-277, 7-333
8-343, 9-356
BOWLING: G.P. Wickremasinghe 30-4-81-2
A.S.A. Perera 40-10-104-1
K. Dharmasena 18-3-55-0
M. Muralitharan 59.3-14-155-7
S.T. Jayasuriya 11-0-38-0
SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS
S.T. Jayasuriya c Stewart b Hollioake 213
M.S. Atapattu lbw b Cork 15
M Jayawardene c Hollioake b Fraser 09
P.A. De Silva c Stewart b Hollioake 152
A. Ranatunga lbw b Gough 51
H.P. Tillekeratne lbw b Gough 00
R.S. Kaluwitharana c Crawley b Cork 25
H. Dharmasena lbw b Fraser 13
A.S.A. Perera not out 43
G.P. Wickremasinghe b Fraser 00
M Muralitharan c Stewart b Solisbury 30
EXTRAS (b 15, lb 20, w 1, nb 4) 40
TOTAL: (156.5 overs) 591
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-58, 2-85, 3-328, 4-450, 5-450, 6-488, 7-504
8-526, 9-532
BOWLING: D. Gough 30-5-102-2
A.R.C. Fraser 23-3-95-3
B.C. Hollioake 26-2-105-2
D.G. Cook 36-5-128-2
I. Salisbury 25.5-7-86-1
M. Ramprakash 5-0-24-0
M.A. Butcher 11-2-16-0
ENGLAND 2ND INNINGS
M.A. Butcher St. Kaluwitharana b Muralitharan 15
S.P. James c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 25
G.A. Hick lbw b Muralitharan 00
A.J. Stewart run out (sub) 32
M.R. Ramprakash c Tillekeratne b Muralitharan 42
J.P. Crawley b Muralitharan 14
B.C. Hollioake lbw b Muralitharan 00
D.G. Cork c Kaluwitharana b Muralitharan 08
I.D.K. Sabisbury lbw b Muralitharan 00
D Gough b Muralitharan 15
A.R.C. Fraser not out 00
EXTRAS: (b 7, lb 8, w 1, nb 14) 30
TOTAL: (129.2 overs) 181
Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-25, 3-78, 4-93, 5-116, 6-116, 7-127
8-127, 9-180
BOWLING: G.P.Wickremasinghe 4-0-16-0
A.S.A. Perera 11-2-22-0
M. Muralitharan 54.2-27-65-9
K. Dharmasena 19.3-13-12-0
S.T. Jayasuriya 28-14-30-0
P.A. de Silva 10.3-3-16-0
M.Jayawardene 2-0-5-0
SRI LANKA 2ND INNINGS
S.T. Jayasuriya not out 24
M.S. Atapattu not out 09
EXTRAS (LB 4) 04
TOTAL (5 overs) 37
BOWLING: A.R.C. Fraser 2-0-19-0, D.G. 2-0-3-0, B.C. Hollioake 1-0-11-0.
Man of the Match: Muttiah Muralitharan. |
