da winzada777： This was a celebration for Sri Lanka says Andrew McGlashan
Andrew McGlashan at Old Trafford28-Jun-2006
Let’s get this party started: Mahela Jaywardene scored his second hundred in a row © Getty Images
This was a celebration for Sri Lanka. It would be easy to say theirflamboyant and expressive cricket stemmed from the fact they had theseries safely in the bag and could let their hair down. But it was just acontinuation of how they have carried all before them during the one-daymatches and made England look very second rate.The catalyst was again their captain, Mahela Jayawardene, who gave Englandanother lesson in how to build a one-day innings. When England attemptedto chase, the failings that have blighted the series shone like a beaconnext to Jayawardene’s innings. The top four all made between 30 and 45,only Ian Bell has much defence for being dismissed, and England made 285without a half-century.”It’s certainly frustrating because we have identified the areas we needto improve and haven’t done that,” said a weary looking Andrew Strauss.”There were no scores over 50 and you aren’t going to chase 300very often if you don’t do that. There were plenty of starts but we didn’tbuild on them.”Whereas England haven’t learned from their mistakes, Sri Lanka havemanaged to improve on different areas of their game with each match; thistime they found a telling contribution from the lower order. At Lord’s andThe Oval (even though they made more than 300) higher totals were on the cards before losing their way slightly. A similar situation was unfurling hereas a brief rain break allowed England to gather their thoughts and respondwith 5 for 54 either side of the stoppage.Then up stepped Farveez Maharoof – who showed his batting potential duringthe Lord’s Test – to firstly steady, then launch, the innings. He timed hisfinal onslaught perfectly and tucked into the final four overs to the tuneof 50 (more on Kabir Ali later in a moment) and boosted the total wellpast 300. The mini-jig of delight on bringing up his first ODIhalf-century captured the Sri Lankan spirit they have brought this summer.”It’s been a fantastic two months,” said a delighted Tom Moody. “We willcertainly leave England a better team than when we arrived. But I stillthink we can play better,” he added ominously.Matchwinners have jumped out all over the place for Sri Lanka; it is hardto know where to start with England. There were more dropped catches -Jayawardene on 7 and 27, sloppy ground fielding and shoddy bowling asanother 21 wides were accumulated. The stage has been reached where it isalmost easier to say `insert previous match comments here.’ However, theone bonus today was that the four changes England made – two forcedthrough injury and two through team balance (it is impossible to say formas it is perilously thin on the ground) – at least meant there were somedifferent faces dishing out the wides and long hops.When Kabir was called into the squad as a replacement for Glen Chapple hemust have thought his World Cup dreams were alive again. However, if hewas penciled on any possibles lists the eraser is now at the ready. He hascertainly been through a strange one-day career. His average – in the hightwenties – is very reasonable but his economy, approaching six, is wayoff the mark.In previous matches Justin Kemp has taken a liking to his low full tosses as have Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina. Here it was the turn of Maharoof to cash in as Kabir suffered at the death, the last over of the innings being dispatched for 20 and his last two for 35 – more than the difference at the end. After five balls of the over he headed towards the umpire to ask for his cap but he was given bad news – there was still one to come. He looked a broken man.However, he isn’t alone in being a broken man among England cricketers.This team contains only four first-choice players – Marcus Trescothick,Andrew Strauss, Geraint Jones and Steve Harmison. There were nearly asmany as that watching on from the corporate boxes as Chapple, Andrew Flintoff and James Anderson soaked up the atmosphere of their home ground.The last two of those would make a huge difference but, while theycould enjoy the hospitality in the ground, Sri Lanka continue to feast onthe hospitality in the middle. They want to finish in style and the partyisn’t quite over yet.