Langeveldt, who bowled as well at the death as he had early in the innings as replacement for Pollock, then made it a double blow. Maharoof played two dot balls, realized there were only 8 more left in the innings, and had a go at another delivery that was fullish in length. The lofted shot got height, but not enough distance to clear the big field; Ntini from cover beat Smith and Gibbs to the catch (5/9; 208/8).

And then, by way of bonus, Langeveldt knocked over Vaas with the last ball of an impressive spell. This one was a touch short of full, Vaas; playing his first ball, looked to go straight down the ground. Some late movement away meant he got the toe of the bat to it, and Gibbs at long on finished it off (0/1; 208/9). The wicket gave Langeveldt a five-for; it has also put him on the verge of a hat-trick for whenever he bowls next.

Three balls into the final over, Muralitharan managed to get himself run out, with Pollock administering the coup de grace off Hall's bowling, and Sri Lanka, 189/5 at the end of 45 overs, had lost their last five wickets for 20 runs inside 4.3 overs to finish up on 209 all out.

It is not the sort of score Jayawardene would have been looking for when he opted for first strike; the Lankans are lacking a good 40 runs to make par on this track. Going into the second half, Lanka will now need to strike hard, and early, against the in-form opening combination of de Villiers and Smith - a blistering start, and there won't be enough runs left on the board by the time the Lankan spinners come into play.

Sri Lanka Progression: 26-50 overs
30 overs: 114/5 @ 3.80 (Dilshan 15/28; Arnold 5/17)
35 overs: 136/5 @ 3.88 (Dilshan 27/42; Arnold 14/33)
40 overs: 163/5 @ 4.07 (Dilshan 40/57; Arnold 28/48)
45 overs: 189/5 @ 4.20 (Dilshan 57/73; Arnold 37/62)

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