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Muttiah Muralitharan won his personal battle with Kevin Pietersen at Trent Bridge on Saturday to inspire a spirited Sri Lanka fightback on the second day of the third and final Test.

The touring side, already 1-0 down in the series, had looked in serious trouble after being dismissed for 231 on the opening day.

But by the close on Saturday they had turned the game on its head by skittling England for 229 in their first innings and then taking their overall lead to 47 with nine second-innings wickets remaining. Kumar Sangakkara was 22 not out with Upul Tharanga on 17.

Sri Lanka’s bowlers were as good as their front-line batsmen had been bad on Friday.

Muralitharan, who had helped put on 62 for the last wicket on the opening day, yet again played the central role, taking three for 62. Pietersen made 41 while Paul Collingwood top-scored with a painstaking 48.

Scoreboard

Sri Lanka won toss

Sri Lanka 1st inns 231

England 1st inns (overnight 53-2)

M E Trescothick run out (Malinga/S’kkara) 24

A J Strauss b Vaas 7

A N Cook b Malinga 24

K P Pietersen c J’wardene b M’tharan 41

P D Collingwood lbw b Vaas 48

*A Flintoff c J’wardene b J’suriya 1

†G O Jones st S’kkara b M’tharan 19

L E Plunkett b Jayasuriya 9

M J Hoggard c J’wardene b M’tharan 10

J Lewis c Dilshan b Malinga 20

M S Panesar not out 0

Extras (b2, lb13, w3, nb8) 26

Total (all out, 91.1 overs) 229

Fall: 1-25, 2-39, 3-73, 4-117, 5-118, 6-151, 7-184, 8-196, 9-229

Bowling: Vaas 26-5-71-2 (2nb, 1w); Malinga 23.1-3-62-2 (5nb, 1w); Muralitharan 31-10-62-3 (1nb); Jayasuriya 11-4-19-2

Sri Lanka 2nd inns

M G Vandort b Hoggard 5

W U Tharanga not out 17

†K C Sangakkara not out 22

Extras (nb1) 1

Total (one wkt, 14 overs) 45

To bat: *D P M D Jayawardene, S T Jayasuriya, T M Dilshan, C K Kapugedera, W P U J C Vaas, M F Maharoof, M Muralitharan, S L Malinga

Fall: 1-6

Bowling: Hoggard 5-1-18-1; Lewis 3-0-13-0; Flintoff 3-0-12-0 (1nb); Panesar 3-2-2-0

Source:The News

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