yes, this is a week late and i have no excuses.
a long, hard international winter meant england had to win in colombo to draw the series or drop down the rankings, losing their status as number one in the world. all winter the bowlers had performed fantastically, only to be let down by a poor showing from the batsmen, particularly against spin. going into the second test, england had only passed the 300 mark once all winter long; very disappointing for the best side in the world with a team full of world class batsmen.
but finally it happened - a good performance with the bat from england! after bowling sri lanka out for a modest 275, this match was surely just waiting for a traditional english batting collapse.
again like the first test, jayawardene was the shining star for the hosts and yet again, jimmy anderson dismissed sangakkara first ball. on a more positive note for sri lanka, the captain this time had teammates to build decent partnerships with, both samaraweera & mathews passed fifty. swann and anderson picking up seven wickets between them.
for the first time all winter, england's opening partnership of strauss and cook looked comfortable at the crease despite the early introduction of spin. the pair put on 122 before strauss fell to dilshan on 61. cook and trott both scored big runs, scoring 94 and 64 respectively. but there was only one name on everybody's lip at the end of england's first innings: a certain mr. kevin pietersen. his superb, yet controversial 151 off 165 balls (including sixteen fours and six sixes) put england in a fantastic position. the controversy occured with the infamous switch-hit, which did not impress former sri lankan dilshan who was obviously furious with pietersen. as long as no rule was broken, which it wasn't, the argumentative dilshan has very little to complain about. england were all out for 460 and finally, the batsmen backed up the great work by the bowlers.
graeme swann was the pick of the england's bowlers with six wickets as sri lanka failed to post a big score and force the draw in colombo. only one player (guess who?) passed fifty for the hosts and england's target was just 94: despite being bowled out for less in the UAE, england's improved batting in the first innings here meant england were confident of knocking off the runs, and doing so quickly. even after strauss departing last ball of the first over and trott following him back to the dressing room soon after, england's victory was never in doubt: cook and pietersen seeing england home. the winnings runs were scored with a six from pietersen off dilshan: typical eccentric, flamboyant pietersen.
now for england, a six week break before a crucial summer: west indies the visitors playing three test matches, three odis and a twenty20 match. next, five one day internationals with the old enemy, australia before the BIG one - a three test match series with south africa (followed by five odis and three twenty20 matches in preparation for the t20 world cup in sri lanka) which is likely to decide who will end the summer top of the world.
