Galle Test: England blown away by Vaas
England's chances of leveling the Test series against Sri Lanka received a knock-out punch when the visitors were skittled out for a dismal 81 runs in their first innings. The Poms have finished day 3 of the third Test at Galle on 2 for no loss after being asked to follow-on. England trail the hosts by 416 runs with two days left in the Galle Test.
Shocking start
England needed to survive a tense eight overs before the end of morning session. Their first innings got off to a disastrous start when their skipper Michael Vaughan was trapped LBW by Vaas for one run in the third over.
In-form batsman Ian Bell (1) was then run out, courtesy a sharp piece of fielding by Dilshan in the very next over. Cook (13) edged a straight forward catch to the keeper off Vaas subsequently.
Pietersen's ordinary form in the series continued as he too was out caught behind by Prasanna Jayawardene off Malinga this time for just 1 run. England was struggling at 24/4 when they headed into the Lunch break.
The post-Lunch session again witnessed Vaas terrifying the Englishmen. Ravi Bopara scooped an easy catch to Welegedera at mid on off the veteran left-armer in the first over after Lunch.
Matt Prior did not last too long as he was bowled by Vaas for just 4 runs. Sri Lanka's most experienced seamer had figures of 4/28 in the first innings. Paul Collingwood and Sidebottom then displayed some reluctance out in the middle before the rain gods hampered the Lankan party. England was tottering at 61/6 when players headed back to the pavilion in a rain interrupted second session.
Almost 3 hours were wasted due to heavy showers and wet ground conditions. When play resumed, England had to negotiate only one hour before the close of play. The introduction of Muralidaran into the attack saw the dismissal of Sidebottom (11) who was caught by Dilshan at short leg. He and Collingwood shared a 37-run stand for the 7th-wicket.
Then came the special moment in Test debutant Chanaka Welegedara's life; the left-arm quickie scalped his first two Test wickets in the same over. Collingwood's determined innings of 29 runs came to an end when Welegedera ran through his defenses to bowl him out. The debutant then striked in space of four balls to get Hoggard caught at slip for a duck. He finished with figures of 2/17.
Monty Panesar was last man to get out. He was run out for yet another duck in this poor England innings. Harmison remained unbeaten on 9 runs.
Earlier in the day, the hosts declared their innings at 499-8. Skipper Mahela Jaywawardena led from the front as he scored an unbeaten 213, his fourth Test double ton. Sri Lanka piled on 114 runs in 20 overs during the morning session.
The overnight duo of Mahela Jayawardena and Chaminda Vaas dominated the visitors attack from ball one today. Both displayed some aggressive stroke play as they added 86
runs in just 89 balls to their overnight partnership.
Matt Prior's dismal performance behind the stumps continued as he dropped the Lankan skipper off Sidbottom in the fifth over of the day. Vaas (90) fell just 10 runs short of his second Test ton when he was out caught by Vaughan off Hoggard at mid on. Vaas' innings included 11 boundaries. The duo shared an excellent partnership of 182 runs to frustrate England.
Lasith Malinga (5) was the last man to get out for the islanders when he was clean bowled by a Paul Collingwood slower delivery. The Lankan skipper immediately declared the innings after that leaving the visitors 40 minutes to survive before the Lunch break.
Mahela's impact at Galle
The Lankan skipper has always had a merry time at the Galle International Stadium. His runs tally at this venue has shot up to 1389 in just 12 Tests (including the current match).
He now holds the record for the highest Test runs by a batsman at any international venue.
His unbeaten innings of 213 runs put his team in a dominating position. He played an enduring knock till he reached his ton, but accelerated later, bringing up the following 113 runs in just 144 balls. The Lankan skipper's knock compiled of 25 hits to the fence. He was given two let-offs thanks to sloppy glove work by Matt Prior behind the stumps.
