Murali stymies England with the bat

Muttiah Muralitharan frustrated England with the bat, not the ball, as the home side were left on the backfoot come stumps on the first day of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge here Friday.
Off-spinner Murali, a thorn in England's side with 13 wickets this series, put on 62 for the last wicket with Chaminda Vaas to take Sri Lanka to 231 all out after they had suffered yet another first innings collapse on the way to 169 for nine.
At stumps England were 53 for two, a deficit of 178 runs, as they looked to build on their 1-0 series lead.
Alastair Cook was 12 not out and Kevin Pietersen, who made 142 in England's six-wicket second Test win at Edbgaston, unbeaten on six.
Murali, in what could be his final Test on English soil, played some outrageous strokes, including a falling-over hook for four off England captain Andrew Flintoff, and a pick-up six off debutant pace bowler Jon Lewis, on his way to a 29-ball 33.
Left-hander Vaas, who struck a superb textbook cover-driven boundary off Matthew Hoggard, finished on 38 not out with five fours after Murali gave former Lancashire team-mate Flintoff a simple catch off Liam Plunkett.
"When we put ourselves in these situations time and time again it can only be our own fault," Sangakkara told reporters as he reflected on Sri Lanka's latest first innings collapse.
"I think it was a great effort by Vaas and Muralitharan, they really showed a lot of fight but we batsmen should be doing all the hard work."
Earlier Flintoff, still deputising as captain for Michael Vaughan, led the attack with three for 52 but he bowled nine no-balls.
Lewis, England's 634th Test cricketer, took an encouraging three for 68 including a wicket with his third legitimate delivery. "If you perform well in county cricket you deserve to get a chance in the England side," said Lewis.
The final Sri Lanka pair's stand was in marked contrast to a top-order performance that saw them lose three wickets for two runs in 16 balls to be in trouble at 86 for four at lunch after captain Mahela Jayawardene, caught behind off Flintoff for nought, had won the toss and batted.
SCOREBOARD:

===========================================

Sri Lanka (1st innings):

-------------------------------------------

M. Vandort b Lewis                        1

U. Tharanga c Jones b Hoggard            34

K. Sangakkara c Jones b Flintoff         36

M. Jayawardene c Jones b Flintoff         0

T. Dilshan c Flintoff b Lewis             8

S. Jayasuriya c Pietersen b Flintoff      4

C. Kapugedera c Strauss b Plunkett       14

F. Maharoof c Flintoff b Hoggard         13

C. Vaas not out                          38

L. Malinga c Pietersen b Lewis           21

M. Muralitharan c Flintoff b Plunkett    33

-------------------------------------------

EXTRAS: (b4, lb3, w2, nb20)              29

TOTAL: (all out, 66.2 overs, 301 mins)  231

===========================================

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-84, 3-85, 4-86, 5-97, 6-105, 7-129, 8-139, 9-169, 10-231
Bowling: Hoggard 17-3-65-2 (4nb, 1w); Lewis 21-3-68-3 (3nb); Plunkett 8.2-1-36-2 (4nb, 1w); Flintoff 15-2-52-3 (9nb); Panesar 5-3-3-0

===========================================

England (1st innings):

-------------------------------------------

M. Trescothick run out                   24

A. Strauss b Vaas                         7

A. Cook not out                          12

K. Pietersen not out                      6

-------------------------------------------

EXTRAS: (b1, lb2, nb1)                    4

TOTAL: (2 wkts, 18 overs, 79 mins)       53

===========================================