Bangkok21

A ‘nail-biting Test match’ is considered to be an oxymoron in almost any circumstance. But not so the case in the Kandyian hills, where, nestled between jungle and shanty-town, an epic test match took place.

The crowd, half Sri Lankans standing on the grass and half barmy army in the stands, danced, sang and cheered to the beat of steel drums and trumpets. While a giant Buddha quietly overlooked from the hillcrest on one side, a crew of bright orange monks spied from the jungle above.

One Englishman missed the point completely, remarking upon arrival, “I heard this ground was very beautiful, I expected more than just a tin shed and a school pavilion.”

Yet the setting so breathtaking and far removed from the ‘real world’ was just a hint of the magic to come in the first official England-Sri Lanka encounter.

What seemed like a three day white-wash after Sri Lanka’s opening score of 188, ended with victory sealed by the home-side in the dying light on day five.

Sri Lankan coach Trevor Bayliss was right when he said his team needed to learn the difference between Test cricket and One Day cricket.

Yet their second innings proved that the Lankans are learning quickly from their recent matches against Australia and England.

'Sanga' on his way to his fourth 150 in as many Test matches

The difference between their first innings, where all but Jayawardene and Sangakkara were sent quickly back to the pavilion after trying to smash the bowlers around the park, and their second, was remarkable.

They returned to the crease in their second innings as patient batsmen, scoring 443, enough to keep England out of the game and secure victory through persistent bowling on day five.

The fact that England did not make the most of their advantage in their own first innings, where Sri Lanka fought hard to keep the tourists on 276, tells much of their performance over the five days.

The Englishmen looked lazy in the field – hot and bothered perhaps – and increasingly so as the Test went on.

The Sri Lankans, on the other hand, were unrelenting with their passion and energy.

While the tourists moped into pints of Lion lager trying to forget the ordeal, locals excitedly recounted the match, Murali’s golden moment, and debated over who was the real hero of the Test.

Most Sri Lankans will tell you it’s the now ‘King of Spin’ Muttiah Muralitharan, who took nine wickets and surpassed Shane Warne to become the leading Test wicket taker in history.                                                                                                            

Murali captures amd celebrates his 709th Test wicket

But they couldn’t overlook Kumar Sangakarra. ‘Sanga’ became the only batsmen in test history to score 150 runs in four consecutive test matches. His century also secured him as the ninth player to score a hundred against all nine Test countries.

Nor could they forget Sanath Jayasuriya, who announced his retirement on the third day and played his last match for Sri Lanka. Jayasuriya debuted for his country in 1989 and has been labeled the man who revolutionised One Day cricket. The only player to score over 12,000 runs and take 300 wickets in ODIs, some critics call him the best ODI player ever. His final performance in Kandy, particularly in the second innings where he hit 78 runs, was crucial in securing Sri Lanka’s close win.

Each of these three men lit up the quaint cricket ground hidden in Hill Country, and for all those lucky enough to be there, it was a captivating match, in all its excitement and beauty, not to be forgotten.

The Sri Lankan fans crowd the fence anticipating Murali's record breaking wicket

A lucky escape

All is not as safe as it seems as Ian Bell dropped this catch

View from the stands: the sprawling village behind the ground