da winzada777： A wonderfully composed 26th Test century from Mahela Jayawardene and athrill-a-minute 92 from Tillakaratne Dilshan allowed Sri Lanka to dominatethe opening day’s play
The Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran18-Aug-2009
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outMahela Jayawardene celebrates making his 26th Test century•AFP
A wonderfully composed 26th Test century from Mahela Jayawardene and a thrill-a-minute 92 from Tillakaratne Dilshan allowed Sri Lanka to dominatethe opening day’s play after two early wickets from Chris Martin had givenNew Zealand the perfect start in overcast conditions in Galle. Thilan Samaraweera weighed in with an unbeaten 82, adding 159 with Jayawardene, and by the time the players went off for bad light, New Zealand were downfor the count.The start had been delayed by 90 minutes and the New Zealanders had reasonto feel smug 40 minutes after winning the toss, but a rapid 118-run standquickly wiped the smiles off their faces. Dilshan drove and cut like adream, and at a pace that made you wonder whether he was practising forthe Delhi Daredevils’ Champions League campaign later this year. Thefastest century ever by a Sri Lankan was easily within reach when he cut adelivery from Iain O’Brien back on to the stumps. By then, he had 92 from72 balls, and the hapless O’Brien had gone at more than nine an over.Jayawardene’s approach was much less helter-skelter and far more measured.There were the characteristically lovely drives through the covers and thebeautiful late twirls of the wrist that sent the ball to third man, butthere were also periods of dogged defence against the accurate left-armspin of Daniel Vettori. There was a period after tea when he appearedbereft of inspiration, but once he stepped out to off-drive Vettori forfour, the fluency came surging back.Martin was clipped through midwicket for four and when O’Brien dropped oneshort, an emphatic pull for four took him to his 18th hundred on homesoil, at the very venue where he had scored his first 11 years ago.Samaraweera had been the perfect foil, taking time to play himself in andthen playing some magnificent shots himself. New Zealand had quietenedthings with a couple of maidens after tea, but Samaraweera releasedthe pressure with three boundaries off Jeetan Patel – a cover-drive, a cutand a glorious back-foot punch.New Zealand could scarcely have imagined such a leather-hunt after thestart they got. Martin’s two wickets had taken him to 162, past DannyMorrison and on to No. 4 in New Zealand’s all-time list. It took him justthree balls to make an impact. Malinda Warnapura had been dropped andDilshan asked to open, but the other opener, Tharanga Paranavitana, wassoon on his way, edging one behind. And after Kumar Sangakkara had clippedtwo lovely leg-side boundaries, there was an air of disbelief around theground as he struck one straight to Daniel Flynn at midwicket.Dilshan had watched all this from the other end, but it didn’t inhibit himin any way. He had started with a fluid drive for four off O’Brien, andthe part-time blogger was soon being subjected to harsh treatment. Therewere three ferocious off-side fours in one over, and when O’Brien droppedshort, he was pulled for six. An elegant cover-drive later, Dilshan hadhis half-century from just 30 balls.Jayawardene got off the mark with a languid drive for four off Martin, andhe kept picking the off-side gaps at regular intervals. Jacob Oram andVettori slowed down the run-rate, but with both batsmen driving Patelbeautifully through the covers, Sri Lanka were into three figures longbefore the luncheon bell rang. There was no respite after that either,with Dilshan slamming O’Brien over cover and then pulling contemptuouslyfor four more. A fierce cut took him into the 90s, but with historybeckoning, he lost the plot.There was a lull thereafter, but once Jayawardene eased to his 50 from 104balls, the scoring rate picked up again. Oram was guided fine twice andMartin then driven superbly through cover. When Samaraweera cut Patel forfour to bring up the 200, Vettori was looking around for wicket-takingoptions. There didn’t seem any. Martin bowled a decent spell with the oldball just before stumps, but the rest, Vettori apart, leaked runs, and twomajestic pulls from Samaraweera off the horribly expensive O’Brien werethe perfect bookend to a hugely satisfactory day for the Lankans.