Sanga shines but late wickets bolster England

Cricket365
June 14, 2014

The highlight of day three at Lord's was Sri Lanka veteran Kumar Sangakkara's maiden century at the Home of Cricket, though three late wickets saw the visitors reach stumps on 415 for seven, still 160 runs behind.

England's bowlers toiled for most of the day, but the second new ball proved the trick as the evening session belonged to the hosts, making it six wickets on the day and opening the door slightly for a win after a draw looked on the cards.

The visitors started the day on 140 for one, with Kaushal Silva on 62 and Sangakkara on 32, as they chased the 575 for nine England had declared on. Silva's wicket was the only one to fall in the morning.

It was an overcast start to the day, and though light drizzle fell, the players stayed on and it soon passed. Silva was unsettled though, and could only add one run to his score in the first half hour, before swinging at a short James Anderson delivery and getting caught behind.

This left Sanga and Mahela, the most famous current pairing in cricket, to put on 61 for the third wicket until lunch. Sangakkara's half century was relatively brisk, and he went into the break on 73, while Mahela had advanced to 29.

After the break, the afternoon session saw the veteran pairing push their stand into triple figures, while Sangakkara also reached the mythical number. He scored his ton off 182 balls, and did a little dance upon reaching it, before being tackle-hugged by his mate.

Mahela also reached a milestone, though he was only able to make 55 before departing, trapped LBW by Stuart Broad. He sent it for review but it was plumb in front, ending the partnership on 126.

Sangakkara then continued alongside Angelo Mathews, who was unbeaten on 76 at the close of play. They added 96 runs, after Lahiru Thirimanne's brief trip to the middle, and went well past tea together.

Sangakkara was eventually removed on 147 by a Moeen Ali delivery that was wide, full and deserving of a four. But Sanga only got a top edge and Matt Prior took a neat catch behind the stumps to give Moeen his maiden Test wicket.

Mathews then watched as Prasanna Jayawardene was dismissed for six, and Nuwan Kulasekara for nine, leaving him batting with Rangana Herath at the close. They will need to resist on day four, to prevent England getting a sniff.