Jayawardene happy to quieten England chirps

England

Sri Lanka batsman Mahela Jayawardene's judgment of England's performance on day four of the second and final Test at Leeds in Headingley was all but damning on Monday.

Sri Lanka batsman Mahela Jayawardene's judgment of England's performance on day four of the second and final Test at Leeds in Headingley was all but damning on Monday.

The tourists romped to a formidable total of 457 all out on the back of a fine century from captain Angelo Mathews and a complementary half-ton from Jayawardene – and later reduced the hosts to 57 for five.

The hosts' attack largely failed in a rather obvious attempt to bowl the ball short. Mathews and Jayawardene and tail-ender Rangana Herath, who struck an enterprising 48, duly capitalised.

"They were quite chirpy but they quietened up after the first hour or so. We know who is on top and who is not. They probably got quite a few verbals from us when they came to bat and they'll definitely get some more," said Jayawardene.

"We've seen that under pressure they're not quite up to it so we'll definitely look forward to Tuesday – there's a few young guys to come in and they'll get some as well. We were telling a couple of their batsman that.

"Their idea of hurting us and hitting us on the head probably doesn't work. If you're getting that good length up front, getting the ball to do a bit and being patient, one way or another people will nick it. We were disciplined enough. We had to get a few hits on our bodies, but I'm sure we'll have a good laugh about it."

English captain Alastair Cook's wretched stretch of form continued on Monday. His latest failure brought a 24th consecutive innings without a Test century. Having struck two boundaries en route to a promising 17, the left-handed Cook attempted a third in pulling a short ball from fast bowler Dhammika Prasad. However, he succeeded only in chopping the ball onto his stumps.

"I definitely feel for him. Forget about things you can't control and control the things you can. All that pressure comes from outside, you can't control that," added former skipper Jayawardene.

"I always felt as a captain before you are captain you are a player – you need to contribute to the team. You have 11 guys and you're part of that. You can't think about too many things."

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