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England edged to a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second Test at Edgbaston here on Sunday, reaching their modest target after lunch on the fourth day.

The home side, set 78 after bowling Sri Lanka out for 231 in their second innings, scored 81 for the loss of four wickets, all taken by off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, to go 1-0 up in the three-match series.

Muralitharan finished with 10 wickets in all, taking four for 29 in England’s nervous run chase to follow his six for 86 in the first innings. It was the 15th occasion he had taken 10 wickets in Tests.

His teammate Michael Vandort earlier scored 105 but there was not enough support to set England a tougher run-chase and the last five wickets clattered for 12 runs in 33 balls.

However, Muralitharan struck some psychological blows before Friday’s third and final Test with the dismissals of top-order batsmen Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood.

Trescothick was lbw for nought after he misjudged a “doosra” from Muralitharan’s fourth delivery and the 10th of the innings. Strauss looked unhappy when umpire Aleem Dar judged that he had got a deflection from his bat onto pad and was given out caught at slip for 16.

Pietersen, the first innings hero with his 142 from 157 deliveries, was lbw to Muralitharan’s doosra for the second time in the match. Collingwood edged to the wicket-keeper for three.

Left-hander Alastair Cook, with an average of 68 from three Tests before this match, was 34 not out and skipper Andrew Flintoff hit Muralitharan for a straight driven boundary to win the match and finish on four.

Earlier in the morning the introduction of the new ball changed the tone of the game after England had toiled for 14 overs without a breakthrough. Paceman Liam Plunkett finished with three for 17 in the innings and six for 60 in the match.

Scoreboard

Sri Lanka won toss

Sri Lanka 1st inns 141

England 1st inns 295 (K P Pietersen 142; M Muralitharan 6-86)

Sri Lanka 2nd inns (overnight 194-5)

M G Vandort c Jones b Plunkett 105

W U Tharanga c Jones b Hoggard 0

†K C Sangakkara c C’wood b Panesar 18

*D P M D Jayawardene lbw b Hoggard 5

T T Samaraweera st Jones b Panesar 8

T M Dilshan lbw b Hoggard 59

M F Maharoof c & b Flintoff 13

W P U J C Vaas c C’wood b Plunkett 1

K M D N Kulasekara c C’wood b Plunkett 0

S L Malinga c Strauss b Flintoff 2

M Muralitharan not out 0

Extras (lb8, w1, nb11) 20

Total (all out, 93.2 overs) 231

Fall: 1-2, 2-38, 3-43, 4-56, 5-181, 6-219, 7-223, 8-223, 9-231

Bowling: Hoggard 22-8-64-3 (5nb); Flintoff 19-3-50-2 (4nb, 1w); Plunkett 13.2-6-17-3 (1nb); Panesar 28-6-73-2; Mahmood 9-2-19-0 (1nb); Collingwood 2-2-0-0

England 2nd inns

M E Trescothick lbw b Muralitharan 0

A J Strauss c J’wardene b M’tharan 16

A N Cook not out 34

K P Pietersen lbw b Muralitharan 13

P D Collingwood c S’kkara b M’tharan 3

*A Flintoff not out 4

Extras (b2, nb9) 11

Total (4 wkts, 27.2 overs) 81

Did not bat: †G O Jones, L E Plunkett, M J Hoggard, S I Mahmood, M S Panesar

Fall: 1-9, 2-35, 3-63, 4-73

Bowling: Vaas 7-2-12-0 (2nb); Malinga 7-1-29-0 (3nb); Muralitharan 12.2-3-29-4 (2nb); Dilshan 1-0-9-0

Result: England won by 6 wickets

Series: England leads the 3-Test series 1-0

Man of the Match: Kevin Pietersen

Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and D B Hair (Australia). TV umpire: I J Gould. Match referee: A G Hurst (Australia)

First Test: May 11-15 Lord’s, match drawn

Third & final Test: June 2-6 Nottingham

Source:The News