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Ken Borland


Confident Sangakkara gives Sri Lanka firm control 0

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Ken

Kumar Sangakkara scored a confident century as Sri Lanka took firm control of the second test against South Africa on the third day at Kingsmead on Wednesday.
    Sangakkara made a punchy, but elegant 108 as Sri Lanka scored 256 for seven in their second innings before bad light stopped play an hour after tea.
    Sri Lanka’s lead is a commanding 426 after South Africa produced a largely lacklustre showing with the ball in conditions that suited the pace bowlers.
    Sangakkara received able assistance from veteran Thilan Samaraweera (43) and impressive debutant Dinesh Chandimal (54) as Sri Lanka built on their 170-run first-innings lead in determined fashion.
    The world’s number one ranked batsman played with great control, stroking 13 fours off 190 balls, having been dropped behind the wicket off Morne Morkel in the first over of the day on three.
    South Africa waited until the fourth over before the close to get Sangakkara’s wicket, the left-hander miscuing a leg-side heave against Imran Tahir and being caught at deep mid-off.
    It was the second wicket for the leg-spinner, who finished the day with two for 64 in 16 overs.
    The arrival of Chandimal has provided another exciting strokeplayer for the Sri Lankans and the 22-year-old made his second successive half-century of the match, off 84 balls.
    His dismissal, edging a delivery that nipped away from the bat to wicketkeeper Mark Boucher, provided some late cheer for fast bowler Dale Steyn, who was not at his best but finished with three for 54 in 16 overs.
    Sangakkara had overpowered the South African attack as he led Sri Lanka to 207 for five at tea.    Sangakkara’s immensely skilful century came off 161 balls and included 13 fours.

Samaraweera proved an effective ally for Sangakkara in a fourth-wicket stand of 94 before being bowled by Tahir.

Angelo Mathews (3) chased after a short delivery from Steyn that was way outside off-stump and ended up edging a simple catch to Boucher.

Wicketkeeper/batsman Chandimal then joined Sangakkara and helped add 104 for the sixth wicket as the South African bowlers lost their bite in cool, overcast conditions.

Sangakkara dragged Sri Lanka out of trouble after they had slipped to 20 for two, but the tourists could have been in serious difficulty if a chance he offered in the first over of the day had stuck.

Sangakkara, on his overnight score of three, edged Morkel to the slips, the catch heading straight to Graeme Smith at first slip, but Boucher reacted late, flinging out his glove in front of the captain’s face, distracting him and causing him to drop the catch.

The start of play was delayed for an hour while the outfield dried after morning and overnight rain.

Two wickets fell in the play that was possible, with Morkel claiming the wicket of Tharanga Paranavitana for nine in the seventh over of the day. The opener pushed firmly outside the off-stump at a delivery that bounced more than expected and moved away, Ashwell Prince taking a diving catch in the slips.

Leading run-scorer Mahela Jayawardene, who became the first Sri Lankan and ninth batsman overall to reach 10,000 test runs in the first innings, had scored 14 when he shouldered arms to a delivery from fast bowler Marchant de Lange that nipped back in off the pitch and trapped him lbw.

 

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Category Cricket, Sport

Another injury blow for Sri Lanka 0

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Ken

The already-weakened Sri Lanka team have suffered another injury blow with key batsman Kumar Sangakkara splitting the webbing on his right hand ahead of the first test against South Africa starting on Thursday.
    Sangakkara split the webbing between the index and second fingers of his right hand during the Sri Lankans’ weather-affected warm-up match against an SA Invitation XI in Benoni at the weekend and was unable to bat.
    The absence of the 34-year-old, who is Sri Lanka’s second highest all-time run-scorer with 9167 runs in 103 tests, would be a huge blow for the tourists, who have brought an inexperienced side on their first tour of South Africa in nine years.
    Sri Lanka team manager Anura Tennekoon told Reuters he was confident, however, that the tough Sangakkara will be able to play in the first test at Centurion.
    “Sanga has split the webbing on his right hand, but it’s okay, he’s recovering well and, according to the medical experts, he should be fine for the first test,” Tennekoon told Reuters via telephone on Monday.
    Sri Lanka’s fast bowling prospects are less positive, however, after Nuwan Pradeep’s hamstring strain added to a terrible run of injuries amongst the pacemen.
    Nuwan Kulasekara, Dhammika Prasad, Shaminda Eranga and Suranga Lakmal were all ruled out of the tour before departure and the 25-year-old Pradeep is now likely to be joining them back home, Tennekoon said.
    “Nuwan Pradeep will likely have to return home and be replaced. The replacement hasn’t been decided yet because the selectors want to look at a few bowlers in domestic matches first. So it’s unlikely the replacement will arrive in time for the first test,” Tennekoon said.
    Sri Lanka have not won a test in South Africa in seven attempts and the home side’s vice-captain, AB de Villiers, admitted that the tourists held little fear for them.
    “If we get a good cricket wicket and we play good cricket, then they’re not going to stop us,” De Villiers told a news conference at Centurion on Monday.
    The batsman said the series represented an ideal opportunity for the South Africans to end an astonishing gap of three years since their last series win at home, over Bangladesh in 2008/9.
    “We need to get back to playing consistently good cricket for longer periods, that’s probably the reason we haven’t won at home for a while. We want to do that for the whole series against Sri Lanka,” De Villiers said.
    “My feeling is that test cricket is all about momentum and you get waves that are up and down. Whoever maximises their opportunities when they’re on top, when they have the opposition on the ropes, will win. You have to finish off the opposition, be aggressive, whether you’re batting or bowling,” De Villiers said.

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Category Cricket, Sport

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