Cricket: England and Sri Lanka level test series

9.15 am - By STEVEN FREDRICKS

England defeated Sri Lanka by three wickets soon after lunch on the fifth and final day of the second test today, leveling the 3–test series 1–1.

"It's been an incredible test match, to say the least," Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore said of the match that will be remembered for wrong umpiring decisions, flared tempers and a rare nail–biting finish in a five–day game.

England went into lunch needing nine runs to win.

The winning stroke, a boundary, came from Craig White as 4,000 travelling England fans celebrated. They raised beer glasses and danced as 20,000 Sri Lankan fans watched in silence.

White, after hitting the winning stroke, raised his fist and ran towards the pavilion as England captain Nasser Hussain came rushing down and embraced him. White remained unbeaten on 24 and Ashley Giles on four.

Chasing 70 runs for victory, England lost Alec Stewart and Graeme Hick inside the opening 15 overs after resuming on 91 for four.

Sri Lanka's left–arm seamer Chaminda Vaas struck the crucial breakthrough when Stewart was given out leg before by Cooray to a ball which television replays showed pitched just outside the leg stump.

It left England 64 short of victory as Hick came in with the main burden on him. He got a reprieve on two when wicket keeper Kumar Sangakkara failed to hold onto a catch off Vaas.

But on 16 he attempted to drive through the covers but got inside Sanath Jayasuriya's full–length delivery and the ball span away from him on to his stumps. England was 122 for six.

England lost Robert Croft after he faced a total of 89 ball for his valuable 17 runs. That charged up the Sri Lankans, but White and Giles managed to take the lunchtime score to 152 without any further loss.

Sri Lanka yesterday set a challenging task for England of scoring 161 to win the test.

The test will be known for several wrong umpiring decisions and bad tempers.

There were as many as 10 questionable decisions during five days of play. The decisions, mostly from Sri Lankan umpire Bulathsingala Cooray, prompted the Sri Lanka cricket board to remove Cooray from three one–day matches that will follow the test series.

Former England captain Michael Atherton and Sri Lankan wicket keeper Kumar Sangakkara were severely reprimanded by International Cricket Council match referee Hanumant Singh of India for their heated finger–pointing exchange yesterday.

Singh issued the teams with a final warning over their behaviour and said any repetition would be dealt with severely.

Scoreboard at end of second test between England and Sri Lanka on the fifth and final day at the Asgiriya Stadium. England won by three wickets.

Sri Lanka, 1st Innings: 297 all out, England, 1st Innings: 387 all out, Sri Lanka, 2nd Innings: 250 all out.

England, 2nd Innings, Overnight: 91 for 4.

Michael Atherton c Sangakkara b Vaas 11

Marcus Trescothick lbw b Vaas 13

Nasser Hussain c Sangakkara b Vaas 15

Graham Thorpe c Sangakkara b Muralitharan 46

Alec Stewart lbw b Vaas 7

Robert Croft lbw b Dharmasena 17

Graeme Hick b Jayasuriya 16

Craig White not out 21

Ashley Giles not out 4

Extras: (b 1, lb 8, nb 2) 11

Total: (7 wickets, 274 mins) 161

Overs: 71.1

Did not bat: Darren Gough, Andrew Caddick.

Fall of wickets: 1–24 , 2–25, 3–86, , 4–89, 5–97, 6–122, 7–142.

Bowling: Chaminda Vaas 18–4–39–4, Nuwan Zoysa 2–0–16–0, Kumar Dharmasena 8–0–25–1, Muttiah Muralitharan 27–7–50–1 (2nb), Sanath Jayasuriya 16.1–6–22–1.

Umpires: Bulathsingala Cooray, Sri Lanka, and Rudi Koertzen, South Africa.

Third umpire: Peter Manuel, Sri Lanka.

Match referee: Hanumant Singh, India.

- INDEPENDENT