December 15, 2006	Friday	Ziqa'ad 23, 1427

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WELLINGTON, Dec 14: The controversy surrounding Muttiah Muralitharan’s bizarre run out which hastened Sri Lanka's downfall in the first cricket Test against New Zealand, flared again here on Thursday on the eve of the second Test.

Two days after Sri Lanka said they had put the issue behind them — while maintaining the run out was bad sportsmanship — New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming accused the tourists of taking the gloss off New Zealand's win.

“We won't necessarily move on,” Fleming said, describing the sportsmanship issue as a smokescreen to mask Muralitharan's schoolboy error and a ‘selfish’ climax to Kumar Sangakkara's unbeaten 100.

Sri Lanka's spinmaster was run out by New Zealand wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum when he went to congratulate century-maker Sangakkara while the ball was still in play.

The dismissal ended Sri Lanka's second innings, leaving New Zealand a 119-run target which they achieved for the loss of five wickets as they struggled to read Muralitharan's spin.

Had the Sri Lankan innings continued for another 50 runs, they may well have won given New Zealand's batting woes.

But Fleming spiced up interest in the second Test saying New Zealand would not hesitate to effect a similar dismissal in future.

“It's a mistake by them and they covered it up by taking the moral high ground,” he said.

“We won a good Test match and it's been diluted by that situation. We're very proud of any Test win we get and to have that not mentioned or talked about is annoying.”

Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene was surprised Fleming had fired up the issue but stood by his original opinion.

“I've played enough cricket to know that was unsportsmanlike,” he said.

“It's over for us now. If Stephen wants to talk about it then he obviously has something in his mind which is bothering him.”

Fleming admitted his team had taken extra motivation from the fallout and will be “as intense and aggressive as we can” to have the record show a 2-0 series scoreline — although he admitted there were no guarantees.

“We weren't convincing winners (in Christchurch), there's still enough areas of concern to have us twitchy going into this game,” he added.

Batting is the obvious area that needs improvement as New Zealand's top and middle order continues to struggle, particularly against Muralitharan.

While his batting blunder may have been the main talking point of the first Test, the Sri Lankan match-winning bowler tied up the New Zealand batsmen.

He sprung a major surprise by bowling around the wicket to some right-handers and was rewarded with the wickets of Craig Cumming, Jamie How, Mathew Sinclair and Nathan Astle (twice).

Five of his seven match dismissal's were to leg before wicket decisions as ultra-cautious batsmen prodded forward to smother spin, on a pitch that never really turned.

Fleming said subject to a final inspection he would be keen to bowl first in Wellington, which would almost make the toss redundant as Jayawardene wants to bat first regardless of conditions.

The Sri Lankan skipper's philosophy is to give his proven match-winner Muralitharan last use of a wearing pitch — a policy which backfired in Christchurch where the New Zealand seamers ensured the Test was over inside three days.

Teams (from):

NEW ZEALAND: Stephen Fleming (captain), Craig Cumming, Jamie How, Mathew Sinclair, Nathan Astle, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, James Franklin, Shane Bond, Chris Martin, Iain O'Brien.

SRI LANKA: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillekeratane Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Chamara Silva, Prasanna Jayawardene, Farveez Maharoof, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Akalanka Ganegama, Muttiah Muralitharan.—AFP