The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Lanka takes a firm grip

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Sunday, Dec 17, 2006
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Lanka takes a firm grip

Wellington: Sri Lanka took a firm grip on the second cricket Test against New Zealand on the second day at the Basin Reserve as it built an overall 363-run lead with five wickets remaining in a confident second innings batting spree.

In a match which again appears destined to finish well inside five days, weather permitting, Sri Lanka was 225 for five in its second innings at stumps on Saturday.

Test newcomer Chamara Silva made an unbeaten half-century to magnify damage caused by his bowlers and to give Sri Lanka a big lead over New Zealand.

Playing in only his second Test match, after making ducks in both innings of his first Test last week, Silva reached 79 not out to guide Sri Lanka to 225 for five in a productive second innings.

Sri Lanka reached that total, and a position of control in the match, after Lasith Malinga and Muttiah Muralitharan combined to wreck New Zealand's first innings, bowling the home side out for 130 in reply to Sri Lanka's own first innings of 268.

Malinga took five for 68 in an exhilarating spell of fast bowling, made more ferocious by the assistance of a strong northerly wind, while Muralitharan took four for 31 in a spell delivered mostly into the teeth of the same breeze.

Unconventional

The pair, both known for unconventional actions, sent New Zealand tumbling from 66 for four overnight to eventual dismissal in 39.1 overs.

Only wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum, batting with the handicap of a severely bruised finger, managed to defy the Sri Lankan bowlers for any length of time.

He batted for most of the morning, top-scored with 43 and was the last New Zealand batsman to fall, bowled by Muralitharan in only the 40th over of the innings.

The next-best individual score for New Zealand was Jamie How's 26 and only four batsmen reached double figures.

Malinga was almost unplayable on Saturday as he bowled with searing pace in front of the strong northerly. His slingy, round-arm action is always hard to read but the New Zealand batsmen had difficulty seeing the ball leave his hand and three of his victims, Mathew Sinclair (6), Nathan Astle (17) and Daniel Vettori (0), were bowled by fast yorkers.

Flight and turn

Muralitharan was sometimes impeded by the breeze but he still managed a dazzling variation of flight and turn, taking at least two of his wickets with his ``doosra''. He trapped Jacob Oram (1), James Franklin (1) and Shane Bond (8) lbw with balls which turned unexpectedly and kept low.

Oram, like McCullum, was batting in spite of a serious injury. He severely strained a hamstring on Friday and was able to bowl only three overs in Sri Lanka's first innings. — AP

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