COLOMBO- Kevin Pietersen’s unbeaten century put England firmly in control of the second test against Sri Lanka on Thursday, his aggressive knock changing the pace of the match as the visitors forged a 77-run lead by the third day tea break.
The right-hander used an array of imaginative shots to register his 20th test century, hitting four sixes and 11 fours to reach the interval on 106 not out with England cruising at 352 for four.
Matt Prior (four) was at the crease with Pietersen, whose attempts to use the controversial switch-hit shot earned him an official warning from match referee Javagal Srinath.
There was some drama when Pietersen was in the 90s as he twice moved into position to play the shot and bowler Tillakaratne Dilshan pulled up during his delivery stride on both occasions when he saw the batsman changing his stance.
Pietersen had been officially warned for the premeditated movement and if there was a repetition of it, Sri Lanka would be credited with five runs, Srinath said in a statement.
Sri Lanka picked up two wickets during the session with Rangana Herath accounting for Jonathan Trott (64) and Dhammika Prasad removing Ian Bell (18).
Trott, pushing forward, edged the ball to Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene at slip to depart after a 137-ball knock that included seven fours.
Bell was dismissed when his hook found Suraj Randiv at mid-wicket, having helped Pietersen in a fourth-wicket stand of 94 off 118 balls.
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Sri Lanka’s only success of the morning session came when Dilshan ended Alastair Cook’s five-and-a-half hour vigil at the crease, denying the batsman his 20th test century.
The opener failed to get to the pitch of ball and his edge was held by Jayawardene in the lone slip position. The left-hander’s watchful knock of 94 used up 278 balls, during which he hit nine fours.
Cook and Trott, who had scored a valiant century in England’s loss in the Galle test, added 91 for the second wicket.
Sri Lanka, who lead the two-match series 1-0, used up both their reviews unsuccessfully before they had taken the second new ball.-Reuters
