Heroic knock by Sangakkara as Hoggard wrecks Sri Lanka

Chris Dhambarage reporting from Asgiriya

CRICKET: Vice captain Kumar Sangakkara's brilliant knock of 92 was overshadowed by a superb spell of bowling from Mathew Hoggard as the touring England team grabbed major honours on the opening day of the first Test match which commenced at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy yesterday.

The elegant left hander gave another fine exhibition of batting under pressure to lift the Sri Lankans to 188 runs in their first innings after skipper Mahela Jayawardena had won the toss and elected to bat first.
 

Even then England finished the day on top as they reached a solid 49 for 1 in reply after having lost a wicket in the very first over of the innings.

Sangakkara found an ideal partner in Prasanna Jayawardena and the pair rescued Sri Lanka with a century partnership for the sixth wicket. In fact wicket keeper batsman Prasanna Jayawardena rose to the occasion with a splendid knock of 51 from 102 deliveries with nine boundaries.

But his occupation at the crease was more important for the side as he frustrated the England bowlers for more than two hours through his solid defence. This was also Jayawardena's maiden Test fifty having earlier scored an unbeaten century against Bangladesh. Sangakkara continued with the good work after having completed his 24th Test half century from 80 deliveries inclusive of seven boundaries.

Sangakkara's task became even more difficult as he was forced to rebuild the innings with the help of the tailenders. But he succeeded to a certain extent before being ninth out with the total on 186 for a well compiled 92 which included 13 boundaries.

Prasanna Jayawardena also showed a lot of courage and determination while providing excellent support to his more senior partner.

Earlier England dominated the first session of play where they captured five wickets on a placid batting pitch after losing the toss. Fast bowler Matthew Hoggard was in tremendous form as he claimed four top wickets with a combination of swing, length and a nagging line. Hoggard claimed the wickets of Michael Vandort (8), Mahela Jayawardene (1), Chamara Silva (2) and Jehan Mubarak (0) during a superb hostile spell of seam bowling.

In addition Ryan Sidebottom captured the key wicket of Sanath Jayasuriya (10) as Sri Lanka struggled to reach 86 for 5 at lunch. Sidebottom succeeded in getting some early movement off the seam and sent back Jayasuriya who steered one to Pietersen at cover point where he dived to his right to take a brilliant catch. This was followed by some splendid bowling from Hoggard who had 2 wickets for 2 runs from seven balls - and again 3 wickets for 18 runs at one stage.

Chaminda Vaas playing in his 100th Test match gave Sri Lanka an early break through by removing Alastair Cook with his third delivery. But skipper Michael Vaughan and Ian Bell steadied the innings and carried England towards safety.

Vaughan of course survived few anxious moments including a close leg before wicket decision from the bowling of Lasith Malinga.

Sri Lanka went in for the Test match with three fast bowlers and one spinner, with paceman Dilhara Fernando preferred ahead of spinner Malinga Bandara.

Fast bowler Steve Harmison was omitted from the England team and James Anderson was preferred as the third seamer, alongside Matthew Hoggard and Ryan Sidebottom.

Essex all-rounder Ravi Bopara will make his Test debut after being preferred to Owais Shah in the number six role, while Monty Panesar is the sole spinner in the England line up.

SCOREBOARD

SRI LANKA - 1ST INNINGS
M. Vandort c Vaughan b Hoggard		 8
S. Jayasuriya c Pietersen b Sidebottom	10
K. Sangakkara c Collingwood b Anderson	92
M. Jayawardene c Prior b Hoggard	 1
C. Silva c Prior b Hoggard		 2
J. Mubarak c Prior b Hoggard		 0
P. Jayawardene c Cook b Panesar		51
C. Vaas b Panesar			12
D. Fernando c Panesar b Panesar		 0
L. Malinga not out			 1
M. Muralitharan run out			 1
EXTRAS: (lb8, nb2)			10
TOTAL 					188

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-11 (Jayasuriya), 2-29 (Vandort), 3-40 (M. Jayawardene), 
4-42 (Silva), 5-42 (Mubarak), 6-148 (P. Jayawardene), 7-180 (Vaas), 
8-182 (Fernando), 9-186 (Sangakkara).

BOWLING: Sidebottom 15-1-58-1, 
	 Hoggard 14-3-29-4 (nb1), 
	 Anderson 15.4-3-39-1, 
	 Bopara 1-0-8-0 (nb1), 
	 Panesar 14-4-46-3.

Overs: 59.4

ENGLAND - 1ST INNINGS
A. Cook lbw b Vaas	 		 0
M. Vaughan not out			13
I. Bell not out				36
EXTRAS					 0
TOTAL (for one wicket)			49
FALL OF WICKET: 1-0 (Cook)
BOWLING: Vaas 7-3-18-1, 
	 Malinga 5-1-20-0, 
	 Muralitharan 3-2-2-0,
	 Jayasuriya 2-0-9-0

Overs: 17