England bowlers strike late

Cricket/Third Test, Sri Lanka v England:This was a day of celebration for Galle and Sri Lanka. They came in their thousands, England fans and Sri Lankans alike, to witness something many believed would never happen again. Temporary stands were packed, and on top of the ramparts of the superb Dutch fort - desecrated by several flags of St George - sat hundreds more, perched there for the free view. It was a stirring sight.

If the rain lashed down on the previous evening either side of the town, then the new stadium remained unscathed, and after the newly scheduled late start, to allow preparations not possible before, a full day's play followed until bad light intervened. It promptly hammered down.

By the end it was honours even, as first more sublime batting from Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene threatened to bury England's hopes before the opening day was out, and then Steve Harmison, in a short but productive final session, hit back with two wickets including that of Sangakkara for 46.

Jayawardene remained unbeaten on 51 of Sri Lanka's 147 for four when they left the field for the cool of the dressingrooms, and England know from their Colombo experience he is capable of posting a working total on his own.

Harmison, trousers bloodied at the knee from a scrape in the field, finished with three for 28 from 13 overs, and is back with a vengeance.

It was a back-to-front sort of day, however, and the England bowlers might have reflected, as they sat in their ice baths, that the disciplined bowling produced in the final session might have been doubly incisive in the morning.

As in Colombo, Harmison was immense, especially after tea, when he removed Sangakkara with his first delivery, a slow loosener of a bouncer that the batsman fetched to deep square-leg where, as the spectators round the ground held their breath, Monty Panesar held the catch securely.

A straightforward catch to first slip, held equally comfortably by Ian Bell, disposed of Chamara Silva, after a scrappy, inconsequential stay, to give Harmison his third wicket of the day.

But the start had been too intense perhaps for the conditions. Most people suspected damp in the pitch, to varying degrees, not least Michael Vaughan, and on winning the toss he opted to bowl first as a result. There was a strong counter-argument for doing so, the prospect of batting last against Muttiah Muralitharan for one, the value of which would have made Jayawardene a little more ambivalent about what he would have done.

At first the bowlers looked too eager to please, straining for a result rather than relaxing and allowing the ball to do the work for them. For an hour the assistance was there, until the ball became softer, the seam flattened and the heat dissipated much of the early moisture, but they were unable to capitalise.

That Sidebottom and Harmison between them took two wickets - both openers - in the 90 minutes before lunch was no more than had been happening with the new ball all series.

Michael Vandort, century maker in Colombo, and Upul Tharanga, were dispatched lbw with the sort of decision from the umpires Asad Rauf and Daryl Harper respectively that were not total clangers but had strong elements of doubt.

How the day would have gone had Harper given Sangakkara out caught at the wicket off Hoggard when he had just two runs and was still new to the crease is another matter for conjecture. The left-hander drove at Hoggard, bat away from his body, and to a man the England team will swear that he edged to Matt Prior. Sangakkara stood his ground, shaking his head, while the England players first of all celebrated, and, having got no response from Harper, then stood surrounding the batsman, disbelief on their faces. It was pushing the level of acceptability to the limits and beyond.

For the three and a bit overs afterwards, however, England, seething still, lost their collective rag, conceding 31 in that time as Sangakkara and Jayawardene cut loose against some thoughtless bowling, before the lunch interval intervened and allowed a cooling-off period.

It was particularly unusual for Hoggard, the most phlegmatic of bowlers whose natural reaction to adversity is just to stomp back to his mark and get on with things.