Sa'adi Thawfeeq
NORTHAMPTON, Sunday - Sanath Jayasuriya made a timely return to form with a crackerjack century as world champs Sri Lanka set Northamptonshire an imposing target of 309 for victory in the second one-day fifty-over contest played here today.
The left-handed opener, who had crossed fifty only once in seven previous innings on the tour, made the most of two dropped catches to slam 16 fours in his 116-ball knock for 119 as Sri Lanka finished on 308 for six wickets off 50 overs. Jayasuriya was missed by the two Bailey's (no relations) playing in the side, second wicket-keeper Tobey at 15 and deep cover fielder Rob Bailey at 24.
Jayasuriya needed that kind of luck to get the confidence behind him ahead of the more important matches, having fallen victim to some questionable umpiring decisions on the tour. Despite an overcast sky at the start of play (it cleared later on to give way for bright sunshine), Sri Lanka chose to bat first after Arjuna Ranatunga had won his second successive toss here.
Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana entertained the Sunday crowd, thickly populated by Sri Lankans who had driven from around the country for the match to a display of explosive batsmanship. The pair put on exactly 100 runs off 14.3 overs, before Kaluwitharana departed, one short of a well deserved half-century when he stepped out for a big drive and was stumped. He faced 44 balls and hit 10 fours.
Jayasuriya was then joined in a further stand of 135 off 21.3 overs for the second wicket by Aravinda de Silva, who hit five fours in his knock of 60 off 68 balls. Ranatunga made a quick 33 off 29 balls before mishitting a catch to cover, a stroke he was totally displeased with himself.
Sri Lanka made three changes from the side that won an exciting game by one wicket on Friday, resting key spinner Muthiah Muralitharan, batsman Hashan Tillekeratne and injured fast bowler Ravindra Pushpakumara. Left-arm spinner Niroshan Bandaratilake, all-rounder Chandika Hathurusingha and fast bowler Suresh Perera replaced them.
The injury to Pushpakumara is not a serious one. Manager Ranjit Fernando said that Pushpakumara should be fit for the triangular against South Africa and England starting on August 14, after suffering an injury to his right knee in the one-day game played on Friday. He said that Pushpakumara felt much relieved after being given an injection by physio Alex Kountouri. Pushpakumara was in a great deal of pain and had difficulty in walking after he pinched a muscle at the back of his knee while bowling in the first match against Northamptonshire.
Sri Lanka in 16-run win over Northants
Sa'adi Thawfeeq
NORTHAMPTON, Sunday - By choosing to bat first after skipper Arjuna Ranatunga had won the toss for the second successive time against Northamptonshire here, Sri Lanka broke away from the normal trend of chasing totals. They in fact, wanted to see how good they were at containing the opposition. Having chased a Northamptonshire total of 227 and won by one wicket in the first game on Friday, and won again by 16 runs in the second game played on Sunday, after setting up a total of 308, Sri Lanka may still have apprehensions of not being fully satisfied with their achievements.
Against a Northamptonshire side who failed to get anywhere in the three limited-over competitions in England - the Benson and Hedges (failed to make the quarter-finals), NatWest trophy (knocked out in the first round), and the Axa Sunday league (currently lying 12th out of 18), the wins cannot go down as convincing, although victory in any form always serves as a great morale booster.
What Sri Lanka found out from these games, is that there are a few rough edges that need to be polished before going into the Triangular tournament against South Africa and England on Friday.
In both matches, Sri Lanka struggled to beat the opposition, who were not at full strength with their West-Indian overseas player Franklyn Rose being rested.
In the first match their batting collapsed rather unexpectedly, and today, the bowling and the fielding when they came under pressure looked rather ordinary, that at one time, the total of 308 for six, imposing as it may be, looked insecure.
The Sri Lanka attack lacked only off-spinner Muthiah Muralitharan, and possibly the leg-spin of Upul Chandana. But what a hash they nearly made, as if Friday's performance was not enough. Northamptonshire began badly losing their first two wickets to Pramodya Wickremasinghe for 37 off seven overs, and then a further two wickets in the middle for 19 runs, but on each occasion, they were pulled out by fighting partnerships which kept the county in the hunt, although, when it came to the final over, they were down to their last pair and required 17 runs for victory.
Left-armer Sanath Jayasuriya ended the match by clean bowling Paul Taylor with the first ball, but not before the batsman had smashed a towering six off Kumara Dharmasena over deep mid-wicket to win the 'Champagne Moment' award.
Jayasuriya was picked the 'Sri Lanka Player of the Challenge' for his innings of 31 and 119 and, David Sales, the 'Northamptonshire Player of the Challenge' for knocks of 91 not out and 44 at the end of the two matches.
That Northamptonshire were able to get as close as scoring 292 was mainly due to the third wicket partnership of 84 off 16 overs between Mal Loye and Sales, and another of 100 off 14 overs for the sixth between Tony Penberthy and Tim Walton.
Sales distinguished himself in the first match with a face-saving innings of 91 not out, out of an unfinished sixth wicket partnership of 167 with Jeremy Snape to give Northants an outside chance. Today, he made 44 off 59 balls profiting most from a dropped catch by Ranatunga at mid wicket when on 17. Twenty-five year-old Loye, the scorer of the highest individual innings of the season - a record breaking 322 against Glamorgan on this ground in May, made 59 of 72 balls before being foxed by left-armer Niroshan Bandaratilake's arm ball, that left his stumps in disarray.
With half the side out for 140 in the 29th over, it seemed as good as over for Northamptonshire, but Penberthy and Walton threatened to take the match away from Sri Lanka. They produced the best stand of the innings to raise the score to 240 in the 43rd over. But despite their heroics, the asking rate was close to nine runs an over. The increasing pressure told on them, and they both perished in disappointing fashion.
Walton lofted a catch to long-on to end his innings of 42 off 48 deliveries, and Penberry going for a risky single was run out by the bowler (Suresh Perera), who beat him to the non-striker's end and broke the wicket. The left-handed Penberry hit one six and four fours in his 64-ball knock for 71. Sri Lanka play Kent at Canterbury on Tuesday in what will be their final warm-up game before meeting South Africa in the first match of the Triangular at Trent Bridge on Friday.