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BIRMINGHAM (England), May 31: Marcus Trescothick put Sri Lanka to the sword with his Test-best 161 as England took command of the second Test on the second day at Edgbaston Friday.
England were 350 for four midway through the final session, with Graham Thorpe and Alec Stewart both two not out, in reply to Sri Lanka’s first innings of 162.
Trescothick struck 23 fours and three sixes in his 232-ball innings — his third hundred in 24 Tests — while Mark Butcher stroked 94 from 209 deliveries.
The pair shared a second-wicket stand of 202, an England record for any wicket against Sri Lanka.
Opener Trescothick, playing in that uncomplicated way of his, held the spotlight with a stream of handsome strokes all round the wicket, but Butcher took an effective supporting role with a composed innings marked by fluent driving through the off side.
On a fine though cloudy day that contrasted sharply to Thursday both in conditions and the pattern of the cricket, Sri Lanka tried six bowlers in a largely unsuccessful attempt to curb England’s progress.
Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan bore the brunt of the workload and always looked the most likely wicket-taker.
He is such a key element in the attack that he is playing despite still nursing a left-shoulder injury that kept him out of all the previous tour matches.
Muralitharan broke through after England had extended their overnight 24 for no wicket to 92 with a flurry of strokes.
Having had Michael Vaughan missed at first slip on nine last night, Muralitharan got his man when the Yorkshireman aimed to sweep and was caught off a top edge.
Vaughan made 46 from 64 balls and hit seven fours.
Trescothick and Butcher took England to 146 for one at lunch and, after being held to 22 runs in the first 45 minutes afterwards, cast off their shackles in style.
Trescothick reached three figures in 169 balls and then lifted the tempo with two fours and two sixes during three overs of left-arm spin by Jayasuriya.
The second of those sixes took him past his previous Test best of 122, also against Sri Lanka, at Galle in the 2000-01 series.
Trescothick and Butcher beat the best stand for any wicket against Sri Lanka — 168 by openers Trescothick and Vaughan in the drawn first Test at Lord’s two weeks ago — before the former clipped left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas to Hashan Tillekeratne at midwicket in the last over before tea.
Muralitharan subsequently gave the touring team some measure of respite when he bowled Butcher with a ball that turned sharply to hit the left-hander’s off stump, then bowled captain Nasser Hussain for 22 off the back of his thigh.
Scoreboard
SRI LANKA (1st Innings):
M.S. Atapattu c Stewart b Hoggard 13
S.T. Jayasuriya c Stewart b Caddick 8
K.C. Sangakarra c Stewart b Flintoff 16
M. Jayawardene c F’toff b Caddick 47
P.A. de Silva c T’cothick b Hoggard 10
H.P. Tillekeratne lbw b Tudor 20
R.P. Arnold c F’toff b Caddick 1
W.P.U.J.C. Vaas b Flintoff 23
D.N.T. Zoysa c Hoggard b Tudor 0
T.C.B. Fernando run out 13
M. Muralitharan not out 0
EXTRAS (B-1, NB-10) 11
TOTAL (all out, 52.5 overs) 162
FALL OF WKTS: 1-23, 2-23, 3-76, 4-96, 5-100, 6-108, 7-141, 8-141, 9-159.
BOWLING: Caddick 17-4-47-3 (4nb); Hoggard 17-4-55-2 (5nb); Giles 4-1-7-0; Tudor 9.5-3-25-2 (1nb); Flintoff 5-0-27-2.
ENGLAND (1st Innings, overnight 24-0):
M.E. Trescothick c T’ratne b Vaas 161
M.P. Vaughan c Jayasuriya b M’tharan 46
M.A. Butcher b M’tharan 94
N. Hussain b M’tharan 22
G.P. Thorpe not out 9
A.J. Stewart not out 2
EXTRAS (LB-5, NB-11) 16
TOTAL (for four wkts, 100 overs) 350
FALL OF WKTS: 1-92, 2-294, 3-338, 4-341.
TO BAT: A. Flintoff, A.J. Tudor, A.F. Giles, A.R. Caddick, M.J. Hoggard.
BOWLING (to-date): Vaas 26-3-86-1; Zoysa 11-1-61-0 (6nb); Muralitharan 38-7-86-3 (1nb); Fernando 14-2-59-0 (3nb); Jayasuriya 6-2-27-0; de Silva 5-0-26-0.—Reuters
