da bet7： Thilan Thushara and Muttiah Muralitharan were Sri Lanka’s bowling heroes, while Tim McIntosh, who faced 226 balls for his 69, led the resistance
The Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran 20-Aug-2009
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outTim McIntosh struck six fours and a six during his gritty knock•Associated Press
After heavy morning rain had caused a 90-minute delay, Sri Lanka’s bowlerschipped away relentlessly, whittling out six wickets before bad light tookthe players off with New Zealand having just avoided the follow-on target.Thilan Thushara and Muttiah Muralitharan were Sri Lanka’s bowling heroes,while Tim McIntosh, who faced 226 balls for his 69, led the resistance for the visitors.Along the way, Murali passed Shane Warne for the most maidens bowled inTest cricket (1761), and New Zealand were left to rely on theirallrounders to take them past the follow-on target.When Jacob Oram was wrongly given out caught off the pad soon after tea,New Zealand were still in danger of being asked to bat again. But JesseRyder, who had got going with a couple of emphatic pulls off Thushara, andDaniel Vettori staved off the spin threat and when the new ball wasfinally taken after 97 overs, a cover-drive from Ryder ensured that therewould be no prospect of an innings defeat.He went soon after, bowled playing an airy drive at Nuwan Kulasekara, andthere was a stroke of fortune for New Zealand just before stumps whenDaniel Vettori was palpably plumb to a Murali doosra. Everyone but theumpire was convinced, and Vettori could have been excused a shy grin as hewalked off for the day.McIntosh and Ross Taylor had batted through most of the afternoon, longperiods of stolid defence interspersed with moments of real anxiety.McIntosh survived a couple of vociferous leg-before shouts from Murali,while Taylor was twice reprieved, on 15 and 27. Mahela Jayawardenecouldn’t get his hands to a low chance at slip off Ajantha Mendis, and hewas again the injured party as Nuwan Kulasekara spilled a slog-sweep.It was a stroke that Taylor had employed earlier, with one soaring overthe rope at square leg, but by and large, attacking strokes were few andfar between. McIntosh struck one superb straight six off Mendis, butneither batsman was remotely assured against Murali’s wiles, especiallywith the ball angling in from round the wicket.The two spinners bowled in tandem for most of the session, but it was onlywhen Mendis was taken off after a 14-over spell that Sri Lanka brokethrough. Taylor hung his bat out at one from Thushara, and PrasannaJayawardene did the rest. Soon after, McIntosh’s luck ran out. This time,the leg-before shout was marginal, on or just outside the line of offstump, but after a long think, Daryl Harper raised the finger. WhenMcCullum then chopped Thushara onto his stumps, New Zealand were indesperate trouble.They had managed fine in the abbreviated first session as McIntosh,troubled periodically by the short ball, gritted his way to ahalf-century. Patel provided stout resistance as the bowlers toiled hardwithout reward. Murali bowled the first over and was then taken off, andit was Thushara who asked all the initial questions. Patel was sound andconfident in defence, nudging the odd single, while McIntosh left the ballalone more often than not. Against the short ball though, he was in allsorts of strife, getting hit first on the shoulder and then flush on thehelmet.Patel’s innings was part grit and part good fortune. There was one lovelydrive through the covers off Thushara, but it was followed by an awkwardshot that flew past the slips as he sought to duck under a bouncer.McIntosh survived a huge shout from Mendis, with the umpire perhapsthinking there was an inside edge, and it looked like it was going to beNew Zealand’s morning as a rare full toss was pummelled away to takeMcIntosh to his half-century. But then Murali struck, trapping Patel infront after a 57-ball 26, and it was left to Taylor and McIntosh torebuild. But so slow and painstaking was the progress, with Murali puttingtogether 29 uninterrupted overs for just 54 runs, that it was only amatter of time before Sri Lankan pressure told.