da roleta： Andrew Miller provides the plays of the second day between Sri Lanka and England at Colombo
da 888： Andrew Miller in Colombo10-Dec-2007
Matt Prior was at the top of his game both in front and behind the stumps © Getty Images
Innings of the day
His resistance at Kandy was heroic but in vain, but Matt Prior saidhe’d take huge encouragement from that two-and-a-half hour vigil, andtoday he was true to his word. None of England’s batsmen – not IanBell in the first Test nor Michael Vaughan on Sunday morning – haslooked as assured in their strokeplay as Prior, who strode forward andhopped back with energetic footwork, and aggression foremost in hismind. He set out to dominate and did so impressively, thanks in nosmall part to yet more obdurate crease occupation from RyanSidebottom. And as their eighth-wicket stand swelling, England nudgedthemselves towards a very defendable total.Catch of the day
Talking of footwork, this was a gem. Prior was accused of sluggishnessbehind the stumps during the India series last summer, particularly inthe decider at The Oval when he tipped Sachin Tendulkar, of allpeople, round the post. Upul Tharanga was not so fortunate today. Thebowler once again was Sidebottom, but Prior this time was quiteliterally on his toes. He took off in the direction of first slip,held the chance comfortably in a single mitt, then had the foresightto close his other glove around it as he landed. Tidy stuff.Wicket of the day
Prior’s second take was much more routine, but the celebrations werefar from it. Another cracking delivery from Sidebottom – on off stumpand nibbling away, and Kumar Sangakkara had no option but to offer ashot. Cue pandemonium, with Sidebottom doing his best Monty Panesarimpression as he hurtled in the direction of fine leg with his limbsflailing left, right and centre. Sangakkara was gone for 1, the firsttime in seven innings he had failed to reach at least a half century.Relegation of the day
It was the moment we’d all been waiting for. Steve Harmison’s firstover for England since the last week of June. His date with destinyhad been postponed after Michael Vaughan had won the toss (althoughhe’d done his best to hurry the moment along with a first-ball duck)but then, finally, came the innings break. The Barmy Army launchedinto supportive hymns of praise to “Super Steve Harmy” as he warmed upon the outfield, but against all expectation it was Sidebottom andBroad who were handed the new ball. Harmison’s back, but the scars -it would seem – aren’t fully healed.Chant of the day
“He’s big, he’s bad, he’s better than his dad … Stuart Bro-oad, StuartBroad.” That was how the Barmy Army serenaded young Mr Broad as hecame in to bowl his first over of Test cricket. Those who recalled hisfather’s exploits as a cricketer – belting stumps out of the ground inBicentenary matches and mouthing obscenities in front of the Lord’spavilion, for instance – might dispute that he could possibly bebadder than his old man. But two warnings from the umpire within halfan hour of his first spell was a pretty rock’n’roll beginning.Umpiring incident of the day
After all the kerfuffle about Kevin Pietersen’s dismissal on Sunday,Vaughan appealed for the umpires to use their common sense. Byluck rather than judgment, that happened today, when Sidebottom wasstruck on the shoulder by a bouncer and caught low in the slips byMahela Jayawardene. Umpire Harper’s line of vision could not have beenobscured during the incident, hence the decision should not have beenreferred. But up it went anyway – the implication, of course, beingthat he believed there had been a nick. As it turns out, the catch wasclean but Gamini Silva spotted the thud on the shoulder, and … wouldyou believe it … common sense prevailed.
