Rex Clementine reporting from Hobart

pic by - Johann J (SNNI) Hobart

Aggressive Lankans go down fighting in second Test
The International Cricket Council (ICC) must get their elite umpire Rudi Koertzen his eyes checked. With the second and final Test against Australia far from Sri Lanka's reach, Kumar Sangakkara was fighting a lone battle at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart yesterday and was poised to score his seventh double hundred and the third successive before umpire Rudi Koertzen from South Africa spoiled his party.

Brett Lee, reverse swing, the new ball or even Hercules wouldn't have been able to dismiss Sangakkara yesterday with the way he batted, but the fatal finger of Rudi Koertzen eventually did the job for the Australians! It was an absolute treat to watch the Sri Lankan vice-captain on full flow and ‘the purist’ improvised at occasions and at moments played some strokes that were inimitable before disaster struck in the form of a horrific umpiring decision.

Trying to pull a Stuart Clark delivery, Sangakkara couldn't connect and the ball hit his shoulder and then the helmet and flew to Ricky Ponting at second slip, who appealed for the catch and Koertzen came up with a shocker.


Resuming from the overnight score of 247 for three, Sri Lanka needed a further 260 to record a virtually improbable victory, but they were restricted for 410 as Australia won by 96 runs just after the lunch break. Yesterday's win was Australia’s 14th successive Test win.

Sri Lanka fancied their chances chasing a record 507 on a fifth day wicket with the dangerous pair of Sanath Jayasuriya and Sangakkara in the middle. The new ball was due in ten overs and it would have been counterproductive as well with two stroke-makers in the middle.

But reverse swing did the trick on Jayasuriya, whom Lee got with a delivery that angled across the left-hander. Trying to cut the ball, Jayasuriya bottom edged it to Gilchrist, who took a low catch diving to his left. Jayasuriya made 45 in 77 balls with seven boundaries.

Their 107 run stand was very productive and the run rate when the two were in the middle was a very impressive 4.77 an over.

With Jayasuriya gone, the chances of the run chase looked dim, but no one expected Sri Lanka to succumb the way they eventually did before another late fight back.

Chamara Silva, Prasanna Jayawardene, Farveez Maharoof and Dilhara Fernando were all dismissed without a fight with some of the wickets falling in comical fashion. Sri Lanka lost five wickets in the space of 56 deliveries for the addition of just 25 runs.

Mitchell Johnson got two wickets in successive balls when he removed Chamara and Prasanna. Silva's flamboyance made everyone to look at him as the next big hero, but he hasn't done much in this series to prove that. He had been the victim of three soft dismissals in the series and yesterday he failed to get off the mark edging to Ponting, who was at second slip. Jayawardene collected a pair when he departed the very next ball. The ball pitched on middle stump and straightened and with the batsman caught plumb in front.

Maharoof fell to Stuart McGill, who was hit to all parts of the ground the previous day and two balls later Fernando was run out searching for a third run that was never there.

On a flat wicket, Sri Lanka should have done better, but they just succumbed in dramatic fashion and only four players managed to get into double figures with three of them getting out without troubling the scorers. In such a scenario, a total of 410 was very commendable and if only a few other batsmen had put down their heads and batted, Sri Lanka could have become the first team to chase 500 runs and win a Test.

This was however, the tenth best fourth innings score in Test cricket and Sri Lanka's best ever.
Sangakkara added 74 runs with Lasith Malinga, a record in Tests for the ninth wicket between Sri Lanka and Australia. The paceman had hanged in with Mahela Jayawardene to help the captain post his first hundred against Australia in the first innings and he did exactly the same yesterday helping Sangakkara to get closer to his double hundred.

Sangakkara excelled in driving the ball bisecting the fielders with amazing precision and he was equally good with the pull. With Malinga at the other end, he did well to get him off strike and Australia simply had no answers as Sangakkara kept on hitting boundaries before stealing a single off the last ball of the over or one before it.

It must easily be his best knock considering the fact that he was batting with the tail and there were at least ten singles that he didn't take to protect Malinga. He reached his 150 with an exquisite cover drive, but the shot of the day however was his six smashed over extra cover off Johnson. That six got him two memorable records. He went pass Aravinda de Silva, who held the record for the top score in Tests against Australia and he also went pass Michael Slater, who had the top score here at the Bellerive Oval (168) that was recorded against New Zealand in 1994.

Had he got his seventh double hundred, he would have been third in the list of double hundred scorers. Only Sir Don Bradman (12), Brian Lara (09) and Walter Hammond (07) have scored more double hundreds than Sangakkara. He batted for over seven hours and hit 27 fours and a six.

With nothing to lose, Malinga had some fun smacking the ball all over the park. He scored 18 runs off a Stuart Clarke over where he hit two successive sixes and a boundary. There were plenty of entertainment for the spectators as Malinga scored 42 runs in 58 balls with five boundaries and three massive sixes.
He added 46 runs for the last wicket with Muralitharan and was left stranded when Lee bowled the last man.

Courtesy - SNNI