Let me take you back, my friends, to the December of 1946. At the
Sydney Cricket Ground on the 13th of that month, Don Bradman made 234
against England. It was his eleventh test double century. The next time a
batsman scored his eleventh double century was today at the Basin Reserve, and
I was there.
Once in a while you wish for something very, very hard and it comes
true. I wished for a Kumar Sangakkara century and got a double.
The match situation—five down and 143 behind at the start of the day—constrained
Sangakkara from deploying the full range of his talent. He was a great actor
performing at a matinee, holding something back for the second house. But a bad
first session would have lost Sri Lanka the match, and the series. Now, even if
New Zealand bat all day tomorrow, getting back on level terms is the best they
can hope for as a reward, all thanks to one great innings.
Through the morning Sangakkara’s focus was on accumulation,
featuring some astute running between the wickets with Chandimal. He rarely
played a false shot and—the hallmark of a great batsman—always had time to
spare. In the afternoon we saw more chocolate-smooth cover drives, back knee
almost on the ground, bat over the shoulder in the follow through. There is no
sight more pleasing in cricket than a left-hander’s cover drive.
He became a little ragged in the final session as tiredness
combined with milking what he could from the tail, to the extent of 148
combined for the seventh, eighth and ninth wicket partnerships. Only then did
he offer several chances at the difficult-to-impossible end of the continuum.
One of Trent Boult’s trademark Basin miracle catches—this one half
dolphin, half weightless astronaut—was needed to end Sangakkara’s innings, for
203. Every one of the New Zealand team shook his hand before he departed. We should
run a cricketing etiquette class; reduced rates for needy Australians.
That Sangakkara is a great batsman is beyond question, but where
does he stand among the batting aristocracy? As the best left-hander since
Graeme Pollock, I would suggest. Some will favour Brian Lara, and if we are
thinking of attack only, I might agree. But Sangakkara combines the fluency of
Gower with the obduracy of Lawry and adds something of his own to the compound.
He was well-supported. Chandimal shared a sixth-wicket partnership
of 130 without ever quite having his timing, but this did not worry him, suggesting
that he has a test-match temperament.
Rangana Herath appears to be the first batsman in test history to
choose the airspace over the slips as his preferred scoring area. He got the
rough end of the DRS, being given out after more repeat showings than The Sound of Music. Unless it is immediately
obvious that the original decision was wrong, it should not be overturned.
The New Zealand openers began the second innings with a 135 deficit
and 11 overs to face, something they achieved, though not before some in the RA
Vance Stand had begun to applaud Rutherford whenever he left the ball outside
off stump, to reinforce and reward positive behaviour. There is a growing
feeling that there is a repeating computer glitch that includes him in the test
team when he should be in the ODIs.
New Zealand will not be able to put themselves in a winning
position on the third day, but could go most of the way to losing the match and
drawing the series.
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