John Crawley, recalled to the side after a six-month absence, hit an unbeaten 156 as England piled on the runs on the second day of the one-off Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval yesterday. But Sri Lankan opener Sanath Jayasuriya mounted a spirited fightback with a quickfire 59 not out as the tourists reached 79 for one at the close of play in reply to England's first innings of 445 all out.
Crawley's innings was England's second century of the match, following Graeme Hick's 107, and boosted his chances of making England's tour party for the upcoming Ashes series in Australia.
Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan, the world's best finger spinner, took seven wickets during a marathon effort which helped restrict England's run rate to 2.2 an over until Crawley led a late flourish.
The off-spinner Muralitharan bowled over a third of the tourists' overs and he finished with figures of 59.3-14-155-7 for the best ever return by a Sri Lankan bowler against England.
Crawley scored his third Test century in just over four hours off 197 balls, hitting 13 fours.
The Lancashire batsman was the only batsman to trouble the world one-day champions on the second day of the match. But a last-wicket partnership of 89 with Angus Fraser (32) helped lift the total over the 400-mark.
