Wednesday, May 17, 2006

DRAW AT LORD'S

The test match between England and Sri Lanka at Lord’s finished as a draw. England was on the front foot for nearly four days. The weather and the dropped catches saw Lanka save the match from a certain defeat. Of course, Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan captain played the innings of his life. He made a 50 in the first and got a ton the second time round.

In the first innings, the Lankans were thoroughly outplayed, with both the ball and the bat. The bowling was not penetrative and the English made merry. Trescothick, Strauss, Cook, Collingwood all made runs. KP made a big hundred and Flintoff carted a few shots over the boundary. Matthew Hoggard and Mahmood then used the conditions well to make the Lankans follow on.


In the second innings, most of the Lankan batsmen contributed with the bat. Just as the dropped catches made a draw possible, an umpiring error could have proven costly for Sri Lanka. A ball from Flintoff brushed the pullover of Jayawardene and the umpire gave the batsman out, caught behind. There was justice in the end, with the draw.

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