da bet7： Andrew Miller provides the plays of the fifth and final day at Galle
Andrew Miller at Galle22-Dec-2007
“If you’re that bored of the cricket, go and sit on the beach” © Getty Images
Catch of the day
Mahela Jayawardene’s low pluck at short midwicket to remove KevinPietersen. He didn’t have to move so it was routine in most senses,but it travelled like a bullet and had been tossed a mile in the airalmost before anyone had registered what had happened. Pietersentrudged off ruing the vagaries of fortune. For the first time in hiscareer, he’s failed to make a fifty in a completed Test series.Over of the day
At every critical juncture of this series, England have faltered andSri Lanka have surged. So it proved in a thrilling over before lunch,when the menace of Muttiah Muralitharan combined with the fear of theEnglish batsmen to produce a catastrophic implosion. Pietersen’sdismissal had created a ripple of disquiet, but when Paul Collingwoodwas confounded by the doosra and stumped by two feet, a precipiceopened up beneath England’s innings and poor Ravi Bopara stumbledstraight in. A panicky edge, a stuttered attempt at a run, a thrillingpounce, a despairing backflip, a gleeful whip of the bails. SuddenlyEngland were embracing oblivion for the second innings running.Drop of the day
Prasanna Jayawardene has been a picture of anonymity in the field,which for a wicketkeeper can only be a good thing – Matt Prior canonly dream of the day he’s not got a mention in the morning papers.Even so, he produced something of a blooper in the second over of themorning, when Alastair Cook had added just one run to his overnight53. The ball was fired down the leg-side, and brushed the face of thebat as Cook shaped to glance. But Jayawardene missed his moment, andEngland’s survival prospects lived on.Innings of the day
England hadn’t gone through an entire Test series without at least onecenturion since they were overturned by New Zealand in 1999. Thatresult, coincidentally, left England rock-bottom in the worldrankings, so symbolically it was rather important that someone -anyone – stood up to be counted today. The honour eventually went toCook, who doesn’t turn 23 until Christmas Day. Yet has now racked upseven centuries in his young career, which equals Javed Miandad at thesame age. Only Bradman and Tendulkar, with eight, have managed more.That’s some illustrious company.Self-publicising numpty of the day
Yesterday, a banner appeared on the fort which caught the attention ofthe England team – Cook included, who commented on it after the match.Today, clearly chuffed by the amount of publicity his little stunt hadgenerated, the same chap turned his sheet around, and scrawled: “15days of torture – thanks for nothing England”. Pillock. If you’re thatbored of the cricket, go and sit on the beach. Or walk around thefort. Or lounge on a shady verandah. Or go home to damp, freezingBlighty.Stat of the day
Ryan Sidebottom (253 balls) faced more deliveries in theseries than Pietersen (250). There are England’s shortcomings ina nutshell.