By Neil Hallam at Leicester

First day of four: Sri Lanka (51-0) trail Leicestershire (245) by 194 runs

LEICESTERSHIRE'S decision to give a first-class debut to a relaid pitch looked like rebounding on them until Jon Dakin, who would not have been playing but for the late exclusion of an unfit James Ormond, took the opportunity to make a point about his potential.

Dakin reined in his preferred method of muscular aggression to make 79 off 146 balls and supervise stands of 68 in 12 overs for the seventh wicket and 79 in 29 overs for the eighth to carry Leicestershire from a parlous 81 for six to 245.

Sri Lanka were left to face 10 overs, time enough for them to rattle up 51 without loss and for Leicestershire to employ five bowlers, each treated with severity by Sanath Jayasuriya and Russel Arnold.

Leicestershire's cricket manager, Jack Birkenshaw, said of the pitch, relaid three years ago, that it would be ``interesting to see how it plays over four days''.

Leicestershire's batsman may, perhaps, have found a different word for their experiences on a cracked and two-paced surface as the ball jagged awkwardly off the seam.

Darren Maddy fell cutting, Darren Stevens was beaten on the back foot and Leicestershire were in steep decline when Ben Smith jabbed to second slip, Iain Sutcliffe was held at third and Aftab Habib became the first of four victims for Prasanna Jayawardene.

Smith made 153 and Habib 198 in Leicestershire's last championship match, but this time they managed not a run between them.

Dakin seemed to have decided that power was the best antidote when he hoisted Suresh Perera over midwicket for six but then opted for selectivity as first Dominic Williamson then David Millns proved reliable allies on a pitch growing less unpredictable in the hot sun of the afternoon.

Day 2: Dakin's spell of magic upstages tourists

By Neil Hallam

THEY came, no doubt, to watch Sanath Jayasuriya, an opener who would get into many people's World XI, Aravinda de Silva, whose batting lit up the last World Cup, and Russel Arnold, who announced himself on Sri Lanka's current tour with a double century against Somerset.

Alas for the name-spotters at Grace Road, this is a game in which the stars are being outdone by the supporting cast, and Jon Dakin, a strapping all-rounder who does not often get into the Leicestershire side, got rid of all three in the space of 16 balls to clear centre-stage for the century with which Sri Lanka's captain Arjuna Ranatunga dominated the day.

The fuller figure of the Sri Lankan makes him a throwback to the old days of the amateur captain, but he is a punishing batsman with a full range of strokes and he proved as much with his 110 off 148 balls, including 19 fours, to carry his side to 314 for five at tea.

The dismissive severity with which Jayasuriya and Arnold romped to 51 in 10 overs at the end of the first day threatened prolonged toil for a Leicestershire missing for various reasons, Chris Lewis, Phil Simmons, Vince Wells, Alan Mullally, James Whitaker and James Ormond.

Seamer David Millns further weakened the attack when he turned an ankle in a loose foothold, but Dakin is keen to redeem a season of meagre returns and, after top-scoring with 79 in Leicestershire's 245, he filleted Sri Lanka's upper order with bowling which cast some doubt on his classification as RM in the cricket annuals.

There was nothing medium-paced about the ball which squared up Arnold in front of his stumps, nor the one which bounced lavishly from an unreliable, relaid pitch to have Jayasuriya caught behind off a glove in Dakin's next over. And quickest of all was the snorter Dakin reserved for de Silva, only halfway through an attempted hook when he was held off a glove to back Leicestershire's view that Dakin has the potential to succeed in good company.

Ranatunga, who dominated a stand of 137 in 32 overs with Mashela Jayawardene, fell prospecting once too often outside off stump, but further enterprise from Hashan Tillekeratne and Chandika Hathurusingha advanced Sri Lanka's cause.

Day 3: Sri Lanka nearly off the mark

By Neil Hallam at Leicester

Third day of four: Leics (245 & 234-5) trail Sri Lanka (509) by 30 runs

SRI LANKA'S heavy dependance on Muttiah Muralitharan for their wicket-taking was effectively demonstrated at Grace Road as Leicestershire, 264 in arrears after the first innings, mastered everything but his off-spin in reducing the deficit to 30 with five wickets intact.

Muralitharan took five wickets in each innings for match-figures of 10 for 94 in Sri Lanka's previous game, a two-day defeat by Glamorgan, added three for 41 in Leicestershire's first innings and then claimed the first four wickets in their second to take Sri Lanka towards their first victory of this tour.

It all adds up, so far, to figures of 17 for 212 in four innings, only two of them complete, for the spinner who was called for throwing in 1995 and 1996 but whose action has since been accepted as fair by the International Cricket Council.

Only Ben Smith, with an assiduous 75, looked secure against him on a never wholly predictable pitch, resisting for more than two hours to pull Leicestershire round after Muralitharan had claimed three for five in 26 balls to open up the chance of a three-day win.

Iain Sutcliffe played on, Darren Stevens was squared up on the back foot and the need for retrenchment grew more urgent when Darren Maddy's low productivity in first-class matches was extended by a catch at silly point off bat and pad and Aftab Habib, who shared a fourth-wicket stand worth 84, fell working to leg.

Having coped tenaciously with the wiles and variations of Muralitharan, Smith did not survive the first over of occasional medium-pace from Aravinda de Silva, spooning a checked stroke to short mid-wicket and departing with an expression of self-disgust.

Smith hit 14 fours, three in one over from seamer Pramodya Wickremasinghe to reach his 50 off 96 balls, and his restraint and selectivity was not lost on Paul Nixon and Jon Dakin as Leicestershire eyed a fourth-day weather report promising showers.

Hashan Tillekeratne, 91 overnight, made 120 off 183 balls, including 18 fours, as Sri Lanka, for whom captain Arjuna Ranatunga also made a century, reached 509.

Day 4: Tourists have to earn their victory

By Neil Hallam at Leicester

Sri Lanka (509 & 99-1) beat Leics (245 & 362) by 9 wkts

LEICESTERSHIRE proved something about the depth of their resources by delaying Sri Lanka's first victory of their tour until well into the final session of a game they had at one time seemed likely to win inside three days.

With a NatWest Trophy quarter-final against Warwickshire, 24 hours later for Leicestershire when they resumed at 234 for five, still 30 runs adrift, the clever money was on a prompt decline and a free afternoon to gather themselves for the challenge of Brian Lara and company.

In the event, Leicestershire's resistance was maintained for another 53 overs to claim a 98-run advantage which Sri Lanka overcame for the loss of Sanath Jayasuriya, slicing to extra cover, to win by nine wickets with 15 overs to spare.

Although the final margin of victory was wide, this was no walkover for the tourists against a Leicestershire side from which Chris Lewis, Vince Wells, Phil Simmons and Alan Mullally were rested, from which James Whitaker and James Ormond were excluded by long-term injuries and which was further weakened by an ankle strain that limited seamer David Millns to only one over in Sri Lanka's first innings. Jon Dakin took his chance with a timely display of all-round ability to claim a place in the NatWest squad, following his first-innings 79 by batting for over two hours to make 42.

His patience finally lapsed with a miscued pull and off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan claimed his third five-wicket haul in four innings when Millns jabbed to silly point. But Leicestershire's determination to stave off their first defeat of the season in first-class cricket for as long as possible did not flag.