Pietersen puts England on top

BIRMINGHAM (England), May 26: Kevin Pietersen struck his third consecutive century in England on Friday to put the home side in command of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston.

At the close of the second day Sri Lanka were 86 for four in their second innings, still requiring 68 runs to make England bat again.

Swing bowler Matthew Hoggard and left-arm spinner Monty Panesar took two wickets each in Sri Lanka's second innings as the visitors failed to emulate the comeback which enabled them to draw the first test.

Pietersen struck 142, including a reverse sweep for six, before England lost five wickets for five runs to collapse to 295 all out at tea in reply to Sri Lanka's 141.

Off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan finished with six for 86, his 52nd five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

Pietersen, who struck 158 in the first Test at Lord's to equal his previous highest test score set against Australia in last year's Oval Test, appeared unaffected by the Edgbaston gloom in the morning session.

After the start had been delayed for 80 minutes due to overnight rain, England passed Sri Lanka's total in the 36th over when Pietersen drove Muralitharan's first delivery of the day through extra cover for four.

The aggressive right-hander then advanced down the wicket and drove the next ball over the bowler's head and Nuwan Kulasekera at long on misjudged the spin on the ball and allowed a boundary for what should have been a single.

Pietersen registered his sixth Test half-century with a sweep off Muralitharan that bisected deep backward square leg and fine leg. It had taken him just 53 deliveries.

He continued the aggressive approach after lunch, reverse-sweeping Muralitharan for six over cover point from a full toss.

Muralitharan, clearly irritated, trapped Pietersen lbw two deliveries later. Pietersen had faced just 157 balls in his fourth Test century and he plundered 20 boundaries and three sixes in total.

He put on 69 with Paul Collingwood (19) and 52 with skipper Andrew Flintoff.

Flintoff, bowled for nine by Lasith Malinga, played a subdued innings of almost an hour but it said more about Pietersen's dominance than Flintoff's struggle.

Some of his shots bordered on patronising. Two fours off Nuwan Kulasekera were bottom-handed flicks powerful enough to travel straight down the ground to the boundary.

He reached his hundred with an on-drive, also against Kulasekera, and his celebration was typically animated as he jumped in the air and dropped his bat in the process.

With his confidence increasing, he took three consecutive fours off Muralitharan, one aerial cover drive, one along the floor through cover and a square cut to take him to 134.

Possibly his one moment of fortune came when he missed a sweep shot against Muralitharan when on 104, but umpire Darrell Hair gave runs to what he saw as a bottom edge.

England failed to ram home their advantage further as Flintoff, Liam Plunkett (0), Geraint Jones (4) and Panesar (0) all failed.

Scoreboard

SRI LANKA (1st Innings) 141.

ENGLAND (1st Innings, overnight 138-3):

M.E. Trescothick c S’kkara b Murali 27A.J. Strauss run out 30

A.N. Cook lbw b Murali 23

K.P. Pietersen lbw b Murali 142

M.J. Hoggard b Vaas 3

P.D. Collingwood c Tharanga b Murali 19

A. Flintoff b Malinga 9

G.O. Jones c Samaraweera b Murali 4

L.E. Plunkett c Vandort b Murali 0