May 19, 2002	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 6, 1423

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LONDON, May 18: Sri Lanka seamer Ruchira Perera removed Michael Vaughan and Graham Thorpe with consecutive balls to leave England facing the follow-on on the third day of the first Test Saturday.

England, battling to salvage a draw after Sri Lanka’s 555 for eight declared, looked to be edging towards safety on 203 for three approaching tea when Perera induced Vaughan, the anchor man of the innings with 64, to top-edge a hook to fine leg.

Nuwan Zoysa brushed off a collision with a team mate to take the catch.

Thorpe, on 27 after a 54-run stand with Vaughan, was trapped lbw next ball shuffling across his stumps, but wicket-keeper Alec Stewart survived the hat trick ball as England reached tea break on 211 for five, with John Crawley at the other end.

Perera’s double breakthrough prolonged the drama on a day of fluctuating fortunes in which Sri Lanka, seeking a 10th Test win in a row, threatened early on before England skipper Nasser Hussain engineered a fightback.

The home side, needing 356 to avoid the follow-on in the first game of the three-Test series, were immediately on the back foot when light early rain livened up the pitch while cloud cover offered some extra help for the swing bowlers.

Seamer Buddika Fernando duly took advantage as Mark Butcher, on 17, fenced at a short ball angled across him and edged to the diving Mahela Jayawardene in the gully to make it 43 for two.

Hussain, however, made 57 during an enterprising 106-run stand with Vaughan scored at almost five runs an over.

Profiting from attacking fields and refusing to retreat into his shell, Hussain responded with a flurry of boundaries, cracking three in an over off Zoysa just before lunch and returning to his 11 off Fernando’s first six balls afterwards.

A fine-leg glance gave him his half-century off 59 deliveries and he moved on to 57, 44 of them coming in fours, before he was caught behind after a two-hour stay to give left-arm pace bowler Zoysa his second wicket.

Vaughan batted for four hours but lost his rhythm after reaching lunch on 45. Starved of the strike, he took an hour to add his next five runs.

Earlier in the first session, Vaughan provided the two shots of the morning, a classical extra-cover drive followed by a sweet pull for four off Zoysa.

But Hussain kept pace, greeting change bowler Perera’s first over with boundaries to mid off and backward point.

Perera was the victim again when Vaughan cracked him for two cover boundaries to bring up the 100 in the 27th over, and Hussain bettered that with three fours off Zoysa, although the third flew fortuitously off an edge over the slip cordon.

The pitch, short of mystery on the first two days of blazing sunshine, livened up a little early on the third morning after rain delayed the start by 20 minutes and the clouds rolled in.

But the surface remained true, giving the home side some chance of a successful rearguard action, particularly with the Sri Lankans hampered by the absence of injured off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan who is expected to miss at least two of the three Tests.

The touring side are seeking a 10th straight Test win after their recent whitewashes of West Indies and Zimbabwe and victory in the Asian Cricket Championship final against Pakistan.

They have not won any of the 11 Tests missed by Muralitharan, however, since his debut in 1992. England have not won any of their last four series.