Fourteen straight for Australia
Australia has won the second cricket test against Sri Lanka in Hobart by 96 runs, but not before withstanding a glorious one-man stand by Kumar Sangakkara.
Sri Lanka was dismissed for 410 early in the second session of the final day, the tenth highest fourth innings score in test cricket.
Sri Lanka lost five wickets in barely an hour, before Sangakkara produced one of finest displays of batting seen in Australia in years. The left hander punished all of the bowlers, with measured hostility. A series of cuts, pulls and elevated drives kept the scoreboard ticking, while he refused to take singles early in overs.
On 192, the highest test score at Bellerive, Sangakkara attempted a pull shot off Clark. The ball ricocheted off his left shoulder and popped up for a waiting Ricky Ponting. Umpire Rudi Kuertzen judged the ball to strike Sangakkara’s bat on the way through. The Sri Lankan dawdled off the arena in a fit of head shaking and personal epithets. Replays would indicate he had every reason to be upset.
Sangakkara’s last four test innings are 200 not out, 222 not out, 57 and 192, for an average of 355.
Mike Hussey eat your heart out.
Lasith Malinga and Muttiah Muralitharan seemed intent on putting on a show for the hundreds of schoolchildren in attendance, rather than protecting their wicket. In the final over before lunch, Malinga clobbered Clark for back-to-back sixes. The hitting continued after the break, until Lee finally shattered the defence of Murali for 15.
Malinga finished not out 42.
The rot started when Lee had Sanath Jayasuriya caught behind for 45 in the fifth over of the day. Mitchell Johnson dismissed Chamara Silva and Prasanna Jayawardene in successive balls, both for ducks, while Farveez Maharoof and Dilhara Fernando quickly followed. The match looked destined for a finish before midday.
Until Sangakkara exploded.
Lee was again the leading bowler, taking with 4 for 87, giving the New South Welshman 16 wickets for the two test series. Johnson took three wickets, Clark two, while Stuart MacGill did little to convince selectors his abysmal form from yesterday was an aberration, finishing with 1 for 102. That wicket was due to Maharoof’s poor strokeplay rather than anything spectacular from the bowler.
Australia stands two test wins shy of the world record winning streak, owned by Steve Waugh’s Australians of 1999-2001.
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