da luck： It was déjà vu all over again as Sri Lanka, boosted by Kumar Sangakkara’s double hundred, stamped their authority for the second day in succession at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium
The Bulletin by Kanishkaa Balachandran04-Jul-2007
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Kumar Sangakkara was watchful at the start and later accelerated as he compiled his fifth Test double century © AFP
It was déjà vu all over again as Sri Lanka, boosted by Kumar Sangakkara’s double hundred, stamped their authority for the second day in succession at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium. With the cushion of a 389-run lead, captain Mahela Jayawardene had no hesitation in declaring the innings immediately after Sangakkara reached his landmark, giving his bowlers a shot at the Bangladesh top order.Bangladesh needed to ensure they had all ten wickets in hand going intothe third day, and the racy start provided by their openers – Javed Omarand Shahriar Nafees – was encouraging. Unfortunately, reality hit themhard after Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando struck four quick blows toleave them in tatters at 69 for 4. Another massive innings defeat loomed.The loss of those late wickets was a reflection of Bangladesh’s biggestweakness. The bowlers and batsmen together struggled to maintain themomentum after the initial euphoria. Despite restricting the scoring inthe morning on a pitch which slowed down considerably after the openingday, the visitors failed to cling on to opportunities that came their wayafter Malinda Warnapura’s early dismissal, caught at midwicket.Mahela poked at a delivery by Mashrafe Mortaza just outside the off stumpand the outside edge bisected an unusually large gap between MushfiqurRahim, the wicketkeeper, and Habibul Bashar at first slip. A thickishoutside edge off Sangakkara’s bat fell short of Mortaza at slip and racedto the third-man boundary, a half-chance that was to prove extremelycostly.Mohammad Rafique later spilled perhaps the easiest of return catches offMahela and it stung further when he and Sangakkara latched onto him andpushed the scoring towards lunch.Shahadat, undeterred by those lapses, was the most potent among thebowlers, landing the ball on a good length and getting appreciable lift.Unfortunately, he lacked support as Mortaza and Mohammad Sharif were offcolour and didn’t really threaten the batsmen with pace or bounce.Shahadat’s aggression was evident with his persistent grunting, much tothe ire of Mahela, who appealed twice to the umpires. Shahadat had thelast laugh when Mahela mistimed a pull straight after lunch. The bowler’scelebration said it all.
Shahadat Hossain lacked support from the rest © AFP
Sangakkara was more prepared to bide his time at the crease as heapproached his hundred. Several full deliveries on off stump were pushedstraight to the fielders as he struggled to get the placement right.However, he gained in confidence as lunch approached and reached threefigures with an emphatic six over Rafique’s head.With the seamers operating from both ends with the new ball after lunch,Chamara Silva and Sangakkara settled into a nice rhythm, with the ballcoming on to the bat easily. The pair added a quick 50 off just 68 ballsand the frustration began to show in a brief passage of play, as thefielders conceded overthrows off successive balls.Silva’s urgency spurred Sangakkara to up the tempo and he did so in style.He found the gaps with precision, taking both Shahadat and Mortaza totask. Sensing that the seamers weren’t effective enough, Mohammad Ashrafulthrew the ball to Mehrab Hossain Jnr at the fag end of the session and itpaid dividends as he struck twice in the same over.Silva could consider himself unlucky after replays suggested that the batmay have struck the ground while attempting an expansive cover-drive. Twoballs later, Tillekaratne Dilshan misread the flight and wascomprehensively bowled while giving him the charge.Prasanna Jayawardene hung around for a brief while before throwing awayhis wicket, giving Javed Omar the easiest of catches at mid-on. Vaashelped himself to a breezy unbeaten 30, allowing Sangakkara reach hislandmark at his own pace.When they emerged to bat, Nafees and Omar showed no signs of weariness,and anthing overpitched or off target was put away off the meat of thebat. Nafees was the first victim, edging to Prasanna while going for anoff-drive off Vaas. Dilhara Fernando’s first over was forgettable,conceding three consecutive boundaries to Omar, but he was soon among thewickets when he sent back Rajin Saleh, inducing an outside edge which waspouched brilliantly by Mahela at second slip.It soon became 55 for 3 when Vaas ended Omar’s cameo, trapping him infront. Fernando removed Mehrab, playing on for the second time insuccession. Bashar and Ashraful batted out the last few overs and wouldneed to bat out a lot more, with their side trailing by a massive 320 runs.Yet again, it seemed as though there was only pride left to play for.