Cricket: Skipper joins exclusive club as draw looms

Sri Lanka's Marvan Atapattu celebrates his century with team-mate Mahela Jayawardene. Picture / Reuters

Marvan Atapattu's rag-to-riches story continued yesterday as Sri Lanka all but consigned the first test against New Zealand to an unspectacular draw.

The batsman who began his test career on the lowest possible note, yesterday joined one of the most exclusive clubs in world cricket after leading Sri Lanka to almost certain safety on the third day's play at McLean Park.

When he was finally dismissed for a clinical 127, Atapattu had become one of a select few players to have scored centuries against all nine test-playing opponents - along with Gary Kirsten (South Africa), Steve Waugh (Australia), Rahul Dravid (India) and Sachin Tendulkar (India). It was a proud achievement for the Sri Lankan skipper, who began his test career with scores of 0, 0, 0, 1, 0 and 0, before fighting back to establish himself and eventually become one of the team's most capable run-scorers.

Resuming at 48 without loss yesterday morning, Sri Lanka showed little sign of their lack of preparation while batting throughout the day, ending at 351 for three at stumps following Atapattu's century and an unbeaten 118 from Mahela Jayawardene.

Atapattu said he had been aware of the impending record and that he had it in the back of his mind yesterday as he surveyed the batting friendly pitch, and took stock of a match situation that called for crease-occupation.

"It's so special, particularly given the start I had in test cricket," he said. "It was an ambition to score centuries against all the test-playing nations and I'm very pleased about it indeed.

"The other players on the list are three of the best players the world has ever seen."

New Zealand had some brief joy in the first session yesterday when Chris Martin broke his drought of wickets to send back Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara in quick succession, leaving Atapattu and Jayawardene under pressure. However, the senior pair responded magnificently, adding an almost blemish-free 184 for the third wicket, in the process eclipsing the 1983-84 record set at Colombo by Sidat Wettimuny and Roy Dias.

Atapattu was a fortress in defence but happy to dispatch the loose balls with signature drives and cuts, bringing up his 16th test century off a measured 196 balls, and striking 22 fours before being caught at slip off Nathan Astle.

But if his dismissal provided some relief for the home side, Jayawardene ensured that the pressure was maintained until the premature end of play, raising his 13th test century off 157 balls and establishing a useful partnership of 66 with Thilan Samaraweera.

The pair will resume this morning with Sri Lanka needing just 11 runs to avoid the follow-on, and with the likelihood of another tough day on an unhelpful surface for New Zealand's makeshift bowling attack.

Atapattu, who rated his unbeaten 207 against Pakistan in 2000 as his most satisfying, said he saw little sign of deterioration in the pitch and hinted that his side would probably bat for as long as possible.

"We have done our bit towards this test," he said. "We've scored 300 runs in a day, we haven't played negatively - and now it depends of what the pitch might do."

Martin, one of just two New Zealand bowlers to taste any success yesterday, said afterwards there would have to be some dramatic scenes if the test was to produce a result.

"The wicket doesn't look like it's going to break up at all, it should last five days easily," he said. "So to get a result is going to mean either some sensational cricket, or some very average cricket."

Batting masters

Players to have scored centuries against all nine test-playing opponents:

Gary Kirsten (South Africa)
Steve Waugh (Australia)
Sachin Tendulkar (India)
Rahul Dravid (India)
Marvan Atapattu (Sri Lanka)


* Scoreboard New Zealand V Sri Lanka
(Napier)

Stumps, third day. -

New Zealand

First innings 561

Sri Lanka

First innings

M. Atapattu c Fleming b Astle 127
S. Jayasuriya lbw b Martin 48
K. Sangakkara b Martin 5
M. Jayawardene not out 118
T. Samaraweera not out 34
Extras (4lb, 11nb, 4w) 19
-- Total (for 3 wkts, 94 overs) 351
Fall: 1/95, 2/101, 3/285.


Bowling: C. Martin 25-4-106-2 (3nb, 4w), J. Franklin 20-3-91-0 (5nb), P. Wiseman 21-4-76-0, K. Mills 17-3-47-0 (3nb), N. Astle 11-3-27-1.