From 1877 until World War One
Between the World Wars
Post War to the WSC Revolution
The Professional Era to the New Millennium
The New Millennium and Beyond
Other Pages
Home Page
Article Archive
How the System Works
Frequently Asked Questions
Statistical Points of Interest
Current and Future Series Predictions
Links
Site Map
Contact Us
Get Free e-mail ratings updates
ENG win 3 - 0 ENG gains 19 points; SL loses 19 points
Draw 1.5 - 1.5 SL gains 4 points; ENG loses 4 points
SL win 3 - 0 SL gains 26 points; ENG loses 26 points
Galle
02 - 06 December 2003
A wet outfield delayed the start of play before Sri Lanka eventually won the toss and elected to bat. Sri Lanka began slowly and faced 21 overs before going to lunch at no wicket for 46. The first wicket of Jayasuriya (48) fell almost an hour after lunch at 1 for 76. Rain then intervened when the score was 1 for 1 for 83 to prevent play for a further two hours. When play resumed, Atapattu (29) was out at 2 for 88. Sri Lanka continued to score slowly and with 132 runs on the board, Sri Lanka lost Jayawardene (7) and Tillakaratne (0) to be 4 for 132. Shortly afterwards, bad light stopped play for the day in the 60th over with the score 4 for 138, at only 2.3 runs per over.
England moved to claim the ascendancy on the second morning after dismissing Sangakkara (71), Samaraweera (45) and Chandana (21) to have Sri Lanka 7 for 240 at lunch. Sri Lanka fought back during the afternoon session, but lost Dharmasena (27) and Fernando (4) to be 9 for 291. England were frustrated by the final pair, who took the score to 331 before Murilatharan (38) was caught, leaving Vaas the not out batsman on 22. Giles was the best of the bowlers with 4 for 69 off 32.5 overs. Tea was taken at the change of innings. England began their reply and took the total to 56 before Trescothick (23) was dismissed. Sri Lanka made one further breakthrough, the wicket of Vaughan (24) before England finished the day at 2 for 97.
Despite dropping a couple of early chances, Sri Lanka began to take a firm hold on the match on the third morning. After dismissing Thorpe (43) and Collingwood (1) in successive overs to have England 4 for 143, Read (0) fell at 6 for 155 and England went to lunch in serious trouble. During the afternoon session, Sri Lanka ran through Butcher (51), Batty (14), Giles (18) and Johnson (26) to have England all out for 235 off 100 overs. Muralitharan was the best of the bowlers with 7 for 46 off 31.4 overs. The tea break served as the change of innings and Sri Lanka began adding to their 96 run first innings lead. While England dismissed Jayasuriya (17) at 1 for 24, they were unable to make further inroads and with around an hour of play remaining, Sri Lanka was in the box seat at 1 for 63. However, England picked themselves up off the canvas and punched back in that final hour. England dismissed Sangakkara (19), Atapattu (35), Tillakaratne (1) and Samaraweera (1) in the space of 13 runs and twelve overs to reduce Sri Lanka to 5 for 99 when bad light stopped play with an overall lead of 195 runs.
England desperately needed to keep the momentum on the fourth morning, but failed to run through the batsmen and the lead kept growing and Sri Lanka's grasp on the match tightened. Vaas (19) was dismissed at 6 for 123 and after the total moved to 163, Chandana (19), Dharmasena (2) and Fernando (1) fell in the space of 17 runs as Sri Lanka slumped to 9 for 180. However, as in the first innings, Muralitharan (13) hung around and saw the total move to 226 before being caught, leaving Jayawardene (83*) the not out batsman. Giles was the most successful bowler with 4 for 64 off 40 overs. Tea was taken at the change of innings and England began the unlikely task of scoring 323 runs for victory. However, after scoring four runs, rain swept in and prevented play from continuing.
Sri Lanka began to apply the pressure on the final morning and England's batsmen began the long walk back to the pavilion. Vaughan (8) was the first to fall at 1 for 16. The tourists took the total to 62 before Trescothick (24) and Thorpe (10) fell in the space of eleven runs to see England 3 for 73. By that stage, England was simply looking for survival with all hope of victory removed. Butcher (54) and Flintoff (0) fell with 125 runs on the board. Sri Lanka then dismissed Read (14) and Collingwood (36) as England went to tea at 7 for 171, a remote 152 runs from the victory target. Only rain would seem to be able to save England from defeat. Sri Lanka dismissed Batty (26) and Johnson (3) after tea and the final England pair managed to hold on until bad light stopped play with four overs remaining for a draw. Muralitaran was th ebest of the bowlers with 4 for 47 off 37 overs.
Second Test
Kandy
10 - 14 December 2003
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first. England took the early initiative after trapping Atapattu (11) in front of his wicket at 1 for 20. Later in the session, England also dismissed Sangakkara (34) and Jayasuriya (32) before Sri Lanka went to lunch at 3 for 84. Sri Lanka hit back during the afternoon session and claimed the advantage after adding 113 runs for the loss of only Jayawardene (45) to be 4 for 197. Shortly after tea, England dismissed Dilshan (63) and Samaraweera (3) to regain the initiative when the score was 6 for 206. However, Sri Lanka battled back into the match and, despite loosing Vaas (33) shortly6 before stumps, Sri Lanka ended the day at 7 for 277 with the advantage of having the runs on the board and not having to bat last.
Sri Lanka continued to add to their total on the second morning. England dismissed Tillakaratne (45) in the fourth over of the morning at 8 for 278. However, Sri Lanka continued to frustrate the tourists and enhanced their hold on the match by batted through to lunch to be 8 for 347. England finally broke the partnership in second over of the afternoon session by dismissing Dharmasena (29) at 9 for 354. After a further six overs and 28 runs, Muralitharan (19) was bowled and Sri Lanka was all out for 382 with Fernando (51*) the not out batsman. Giles was the best of the bowlers with 5 for 116 off 37.4 overs. England began their reply and lost Trescothick (36) on the stroke of tea at 1 for 89. Sri Lanka began to turn the screw on the English during the evening session by dismissing Butcher (4), Vaughan (52) and Hussain (10) within the space of 19 runs as England slumped to 4 for 119. However, England then batted through to stumps to be 4 for 163, still 20 runs short of passing the first hurdle of the follow on target.
England scored slowly on the third morning and added 74 runs during the morning session for the loss of Collingwood (28), Flintoff (16) and Read (0). At lunch, England was 7 for 237 still 145 runs in arrears. The English tail wagged during the afternoon session and after Thorpe (57), Giles (16) and Batty (38) were dismissed, England was all out at tea for 294, conceding a first innings lead of 88 runs. Vaas (4 for 77 off 24.2 overs) and Muralitharan (4 for 60 off 40 overs) shared the bowling honours. After tea, Sri Lanka began the task of extending their lead and setting a final innings target for England. When bad light stopped play, Sri Lanka was 1 for 39, having lost Atapattu (8).
To have any chance in the match, England needed to take quick wickets and limit their final innings target. England managed to quickly dismiss Jayasuriya (27) and Sangakkara (10) in the third and fourth overs to have the home side 3 for 53. However, Sri Lanka then fought back and took the score to 206 before Dilshan (100) was stumped. Jayawardene (52) fell six runs later and Tillakaratne (20) and Vaas (20) both fell before Sri Lanka declared the innings closed at 7 for 279 shortly before tea. Giles was the most successful bowler with 3 for 101 off 22 overs. England began their chase for an unlikely 368 runs for victory after tea and promptly lost Trescothick (14) at 1 for 24. Butcher (6) was dismissed at 2 for 50 as Sri Lanka continued to turn the screws. When bad light stopped play, England was 2 for 89, still needing another 279 runs for victory.
Sri Lanka began the morning by dismissing Hussain (17) in the first over. However, an England collapse was not in the offing and England managed to bat through to lunch without losing another wicket to be 3 for 167. Sri Lanka dismissed Thorpe (41) straight after lunch without adding to the lunch total. England again reset themselves and batted through to 208 runs before Collingwood (24) was caught. By tea, England was 5 for 216 and needed an unlikely 152 runs on the final session for victory. Having lost only one wicket per session, a more likely scenario seemed batting out for a draw. Following the pattern of losing a batsman early, Flintoff (19) was out soon after tea at 6 for 233. However, the pattern was broken when, more critically, Vaughan (105) was dismissed at 7 for 239 after he had posted his tenth Test century. For the second Test running, England's tail would need to see off Murilatharan for most of the final session to secure a draw. England batted out the remaining overs without further loss of wickets to claim a second fighting draw in a row. When play ceased, England was 7 for 285 with Read (18*) and Batty (25*) the not out batsmen and Muralitharan the best of the bowlers with 4 for 64 off 56 overs.
Third Test
Colombo
18 - 22 December 2003
England won the toss and elected to bat first. The tourists rode their luck and receive two reprieves when a run out was missed and a catch grassed before Vaughan (18) was out at 1 for 78. Sri Lanka then evened the match by dismissing Trescothick (70) on the stroke of lunch at 2 for 108. Sri Lanka fought their way back into a dominant position by dismissing Butcher (23) in the second over after lunch. Soon afterwards, Hussain (8) and Thorpe (13) were out in consecutive overs leaving England 5 for 139 having lost 4 for 31. England then consolidated and batted through to tea to be 5 for 196. Sri Lanka applied the screw after tea and dismissed Batty (14), Flintoff (77) and Giles (10) and at stumps, England was 8 for 259 with the match evenly poised.
Sri Lanka dismissed Kirkley (1) and Anderson (1) within the first half hour as England was all out for 265 runs. Vaas (3 for 65 off 17 overs) and Muralitharan (3 for 40 off 40 overs) shared the bowling honours. In reply, Sri Lanka rollocked along at six runs per over for a while until England dismissed Sangakkara (31) at 1 for 71 off 12 overs. Thereafter the scoring slowed and with 138 runs on the board, Jayasuriya (85) was dismissed. By tea, Sri Lanka was 2 for 161 and steaming toward a third successive first innings lead.
England never looked likely to take a wicket on the third morning. When a chance did come England's way it was grassed. By lunch, Sri Lanka had mercilessly taken the score to 2 for 334 with a lead of 69 runs. During the afternoon session, Jayawardene posted his tenth Test century and, after another dropped catch, Samaraweera added a third Test century to his collection. Eventually, a chance stuck and Jayawardene (134) was out at 3 for 400. Samaraweera (142) was later run out shortly before Sri Lanka went to tea at 4 for 445. The final session saw the scoring pace increase and a further 118 runs were added for the loss of Tillakaratne (12) as Sri Lanka ended the day in complete control of the match, and hence the series, at 5 for 563 and an overall lead of 298 runs.
Sri Lanka continued the slow torment of England on the fourth morning. However, the fourth over of the morning saw Dilshan (83) bowled, then Vaas (9) followed four overs later and Chandana (76) in the next over. At 8 for 606, Sri Lanka was comfortably ahead even without Muralitharan?s (21*) contribution off only 14 balls. In the end, Sri Lanka declared at 8 for 628 and a lead of 363 runs. Kirtley, Flintoff and Giles all took two wickets for England. England faced 15 overs before lunch, during which Sri Lanka caught Trescothick (0) and Vaughan (14). At lunch, England was seemingly on the path to defeat at 2 for 39. The afternoon session was decisive for Sri Lanka. Having not allowed themselves sufficient time to bowl England out in the first two Tests, Sri Lanka made sure they would not repeat the mistake. England's hopes toppled sideways as Hussain (11), Thorpe (19), Batty (0), Butcher (37) and Read (0) were dismissed in the space of 40 runs as England staggered to tea at 7 for 93. The predictable end occurred after tea when Giles (13), Flintoff (30) and Kirtley (12) were dismissed and England was all out for 148. Sri Lanka had won by an innings and 215 runs while Muralitharan was again the best of the bowlers with 4 for 63 off 27 overs.
