But three wickets crashed in four overs, stifling those hopes.The major loss was the last specialist batsman, Tony Wright, caught at slip, but thinking the ball had brushed the pad. Neither Martyn Ball nor Jonathan Lewis are adhesive batsmen; they are happier hitting the ball and Lewis, aiming to carve Rose, fell at gully.Ball, after a commendable 45, was another victim of the slips, giving Andy Caddick his 80th wicket of the summer, at an average of 22. He may yet get a ticket for Australia.So Somerset were facing a target of 164 with the pitch showing only a little variation in the bounce after five days’ wear (including Tuesday’s Axa League game).If bells had rung and bunting appeared in the Gloucester dressing-room in the next half hour it would have reflected the abrupt change of mood. Gloucestershire 355 and 204, Somerset 396 and 164-5 Somerset win by 5 wickets

PIRAN HOLLOWAY, a gritty Cornish wicket-keeper who had to leave Warwickshire and change his job description to batsman to get a regular place in Taun- ton, stonewalled Somerset to a tense and memorable victory in the County Championship, spending 72 overs on his 58 runs, but giving a shaky order a spine of Dartmoor rock.
Seeking 164, Somerset collapsed to 62 for 4 while the opener Holloway took three singles in his first 47 deliveries and batted for four-and- a-half hoursMark Alleyne had been hoping for another 50 to 60 runs from his remaining four wickets yesterday when Gloucestershire resumed with a lead of 146. 50: 139 min, 38.5 overs.Umpires: E A Nicholls (WI) and D R Shepherd (Eng).Compiled by Jo King. Innings closed: 3.03pm.Jayasuriya 50: 72 min, 58 balls, 8 fours 100: 161 min,124 balls, 17 fours 150: 258 min, 212 balls, 24 fours, 1 six. 200: 317 min, 254 balls, 31 fours, 1 six.De Silva 50: 162 min, 87 balls, 8 fours 100: 295 min, 174 balls, 12 fours.

150: 457 min, 287 balls, 17 fours.Ranatunga 50: 123 min, 84 balls, 7 fours, 1 six.ENGLAND – Second InningsM A Butcher st Kaluwitharanab Muralitharan 1553 min, 45 balls, 3 foursS P James not out 20147 min, 125 balls, 1 fourG A Hick lbw b Muralitharan 05 min, 2 balls*A J Stewart not out 1587 min, 82 balls, 1 fourExtras (b2,nb2) 4Total (for 2, 147 min, 42 overs) 54Fall: 1-25 (Butcher), 2-25 (Hick).Bowling: Wickramasinghe 3-0-9-0 (one spell); Perera 5-1-9-0 (3-1-4-0 2-0-5-0); Muralitharan 18-9-16-2 (nb2) (13-6-12-2 5-3-4-0); Dharmasena 9-5-6-0; Jayasuriya 4-1-5-0; De Silva 3-0-7-0 (one spell each).Progress: Tea: 13-0 (Butcher 8, James 5) 7 overs. So, at 504 for 7, England could have claimed a decent time of it had Sri Lanka promptly folded. Like their own tail, however, Sri Lanka’s also indulged in some effective swishing with the last pair, Suresh Perera and Muralitharan, adding 59 runs.Stewart eventually turned to Ian Salisbury, who was given his first bowl of the day. But if the move paid dividends when Muralitharan edged behind, the England captain’s reticence to use him sooner was surely evidence that, come October, Salisbury’s passport will not have an Australian work visa in it.SCOREBOARD FROM THE OVALSri Lanka won tossENGLAND – First Innings 445 (J P Crawley 156no, G A Hick 107, M R Ramprakash 53; M Muralitharan 7-155).SRI LANKA – First innings(Friday: 79 for 1)S T Jayasuriya c Stewartb Hollioake 213346 min, 278 balls, 33 fours, 1 sixD P M Jayawardena c Hollioakeb Fraser 958 min, 40 ballsP A de Silva c Stewart b Hollioake 152462 min, 292 balls, 17 fours*A Ranatunga lbw b Gough 51139 min, 99 balls, 7 fours, 1 sixH P Tillakaratne lbw b Gough 01 min, 1 ballR S Kaluwitharana c Crawleyb Cork 2559 min, 50 balls, 2 foursH D P K Dharmasena lbw b Fraser 1362 min, 39 balls, 2 foursS A Perera not out 43103 min, 77 balls, 6 fours, 1 sixG P Wickramasinghe b Fraser 011 min, 7 ballsM Muralitharan c Stewartb Salisbury 3057 min, 36 balls, 5 foursExtras (b15, lb20, w1, nb4) 40Total (681 min, 156.5 overs) 591Fall (cont): 2-85 (Jayawardena), 3-328 (Jayasuriya), 4-450 (Ranatunga), 5-450 (Tillakaratne), 6-488 (Kaluwitharana), 7-504 (de Silva), 8-526 (Dharmasena), 9-532 (Wickramasinghe).Bowling: Gough 30-5-102-2 (5-0-18-0, 5-2-21-0, 5-3-2-0, 4-0-19-0, 6-0- 17-2, 5-0-25-0); Fraser 23-3-95-3 (3-0-15-0, 4-1-17-1, 3-0-12-0, 3-0-6- 0, 4-0-23-0, 6-2-22-2); Hollioake 26-2-105-2 (nb1, w1) (5-0-30-0, 2-0- 15-0, 8-1-25-1, 8-1-21-1, 3-0-14-0); Cork 36-5-128-2 (nb3) (5-1-14-1, 6-0-26-0, 6-1-33-0, 2-0-6-0, 7-0-26-0, 7-2-17-1, 3-1-6-0); Salisbury 25.5- 7-86-1 (2-1-2-0, 15-3-58-0, 7-3-22-0, 1.5-0-4-1); Ramprakash 5-0-24-0; Butcher 11-2-16-0 (one spell each).Progress: Third day: 100: 122 min, 26.5 overs 150: 159 min, 34.1 overs Lunch: 192-2 (Jayasuriya 113, De Silva 47) 47 overs 200: 223 min, 49.5 overs 250: 271 min, 61.3 overs 300: 312 min, 71.4 overs Tea: 317-2 (Jayasuriya 202, De Silva 72) 76 overs New ball: Taken after 80 overs at 328-3 350: 372 min, 84.1 overs 400: 422 min, 95 overs Close: 446- 3 (De Silva 125, Ranatunga 50) 110 overs Fourth day: 450: 485 min, 111.5 overs 500: 567 min, 130.1 overs Lunch: 518-7 (Dharmasena 13, Perera 2) 138 overs 550: 638 min, 147 overs. Without them, the wicket-keeper sliced and thrashed his way to 25 before Crawley, parrying a fierce drive at extra cover, recovered in time to catch the rebound.England’s fortunes took a further turn soon after, when Ben Hollioake got one to hold up outside off-stump to De Silva. After all, Aravinda de Silva, a 17th Test century in the bag, was still there, and he was now joined by the dangerous Romesh Kaluwitharana.Having seen how the scything Kaluwitharana played in the Emirates trophy, Stewart should have set two deep gullies. Teasingly, it was supplied by Gough who, in the third over of the day, took two wickets in successive balls with virtually identical dismissals.Swinging the ball conventionally, rather than reverse – a fact that presumably persuaded Stewart to open the bowling with Butcher – Gough trapped Ranatunga with a full length ball that swung into Sri Lanka’s left-handed captain.Clearly pleased that something had worked, after his fruitless efforts of the previous day, Gough tried the same thing next ball and was similarly rewarded as Hashan Tillakaratne, another left-hander, fell across a swinging half-volley that would have plucked out middle stump had pad not been in the way.After feeling the weight of Sanath Jayasuriya’s bat for three and a half sessions on Saturday, time enough to score a masterful double century, England did not quite know whether to celebrate or commiserate.

Steve James, who had looked suspect against the turning ball, survived with his captain to the close, a partnership that will need to remain intact a while longer if England are to save this match.The day began with England trailing by a run and badly in need of some urgent damage limitation. One thing is certain, unless there is juice in the Aussie tracks this winter, England had better get used to long fallow periods in the field.Facing a deficit of 146 runs, England began their second innings just before tea. Having progressed with few alarms against the seam bowlers, the introduction of Muralitharan soon scotched the England’s bowlers’ claims that this was a lifeless pitch.Batsmen tend to get twitchy when he ball is spun vast distances and it was not long before Mark Butcher, attempting to nullify the turn by using his feet, was lured to his doom.Graeme Hick is normally a fine player of spin, but facing his second ball from Muralitharan, he was beaten by an offbreak that spun back at least twelve inches. Indeed, so feeble has their cricket been since tea time on Friday that victory over South Africa now seems as fleeting and misleading as a desert mirage, a place that will seem welcoming in comparison to the cities of Australia, should their stale unimaginative cricket persist.
They still have a game to save here first, and can probably count themselves fortunate that Sri Lanka have only one Test bowler.

If the first five sessions of this match belonged to England, they have been choking on humble pie ever since.As at Old Trafford, where England spent two and a half largely fruitless days watching South Africa clock up 552 for 5, the placid nature of the pitch reduced England’s bowlers to mere run-providers as wickets became as scarce to come by as Russian bank managers.In some ways the ECB should thank Sri Lanka for simulating conditions Down Under and giving the selectors just enough time to reconsider one or two selections. If England do manage to save this match, it will be because the visitors have no one else with even half Muttiah Muralitharan’s talent. With a day to go, England are two wickets down and 92 runs adrift, a shortfall that would seem far more daunting should the man from Kandy taste early success this morning.It cannot be much fun to see an unassailable position usurped, and then made vulnerable by a country long deemed to be unworthy of a Test series. But the hosts’ Michael May (24) and Kevin Dean ensured their team reached 269 for 9 at the close, denying Durham a winning run-chase..

England 445 and 54-2 Sri Lanka 591

CONFRONTED BY a first innings deficit and a pitch now taking spin, England are making a sorry mess of this Test. Phillips then dismissed Weston (45) on his way to a clutch of wickets that left Derbyshire on 239 for 8. Barnett was finally caught off Nicky Phillips (5 for 56) after helping Derbyshire from 66 for 2 to 187, in tandem with Robin Weston, as they pushed towards a target of 229 to reach parity with Durham. He would have played but for the fact that he is also a professional footballer with Oldham and they were hauled in for extra training after losing 2-0 at Stoke His brother John probably celebrated for the two of them.. THE WEST Indian all-rounder, Carl Hooper, and Alan Wells got together with the bat to comfortably help Kent save their County Championship match against Northamptonshire at Northampton on Saturday. Hooper weighed in with an unbeaten 157 as the pair put on 176 runs in a sixth-wicket stand. This came just when Kent had appeared in some trouble after losing Ben Phillips (5), Chris Walsh (8) and opener Ed Smith for 33.