Mahela Jayawardene produced a captain's innings to delay England's charge towards victory in the first Test. After top scoring with 61 in the first innings, he scored an immense 119 as his team followed on. Dropped by Andrew Strauss on 58, Jayawardene continued to bat with an application scarcely seen earlier in his career. Wide outswingers from the impressive Liam Plunkett, that he might earlier have chased, were ignored. He was rewarded with his 14th Test century - 4th away from home, and he improved on his poor away record.
The quiet leader, Jayawardene provides serenity to the Sri Lankan dressing room, in a similar way to Inzamam-ul-Haq and his influence on Pakistan. Sri Lanka, who arrived in England without two major batsmen, captain Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya, contains a number of unestablished batsmen, so there was also added pressure on Jayawardene and vice captain Kumar Sangakkara, who scored 65.
Hopefully, this hundred will be the turning point in the career of an underachiever. It will give Jayawardene a foundation from which to build innings of character instead of flair in the future.
While Sri Lanka will most likely still lose this Test match, Jayawardene should be proud of his efforts in uplifting a dispirited dressing room.
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