Pietersen puts England in control

BIRMINGHAM, England, May 26 (Reuters) Kevin Pietersen scored his third century in consecutive test innings at home to put England in control of the second test against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston today.

Pietersen cracked 142, including a reverse sweep for six, as England scored 295 on the second day after losing their last five wickets for five runs in reply to Sri Lanka's 141. Off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan finished with six for 86.

England then reduced Sri Lanka to 86 for four in their second innings to lead by 68 runs at the close.

Swing bowler Matthew Hoggard and left-arm spinner Monty Panesar collected two wickets each. Upul Tharanga departed first, caught behind to Hoggard's fourth ball of the innings, collecting a pair in the match.

Kumar Sangakkara clipped Panesar's fifth ball to Paul Collingwood at midwicket for 18 and Mahela Jayawardene was lbw to a Hoggard ball that kept low.

Panesar then had Thilan Samaraweera stumped for eight as play went on into the evening to compensate for the 80 minutes lost at the start of play due to overnight rain.

Samaraweera was dropped on two by Geraint Jones off Panesar.

Opener Vandort was unbeaten at the close on 30 and Tilleratne Dilshan was on 21.

Pietersen, who struck 158 in the first test at Lord's to equal his previous highest test score set against Australia in last year's Oval test, became the first Englishman since Graham Gooch in 1990 to make hundreds in three straight test innings at home.

AUDACIOUS England passed Sri Lanka's total in the 36th over when Pietersen drove Muralitharan's first delivery of the day through extra cover for four. The shot set the tone of things to come.

The right-hander continued his aggressive approach after lunch, going from his score at the interval of 65 to his fourth test century in just 31 deliveries.

His most audacious display of confidence came with his reverse-sweep to Muralitharan for six over cover point from a full toss.

Muralitharan, clearly irritated, trapped Pietersen lbw two deliveries later with his doosra. Pietersen had faced just 157 balls and plundered 20 boundaries and three sixes.

He put on 69 with Collingwood (19) and 52 with Andrew Flintoff.

Skipper Flintoff, bowled for nine by Lasith Malinga, played a subdued innings of almost an hour but it said more about Pietersen's dominance than Flintoff's struggle.

Some of Pietersen's shots bordered on the patronising. Two fours off Nuwan Kulasekera were bottom-handed flicks powerful enough to travel straight down the ground to the boundary.

He reached his hundred with an on-drive, also against Kulasekera, and his celebration was typically animated as he jumped in the air and dropped his bat in the process.

Possibly his one moment of fortune came when he missed a sweep shot against Muralitharan when on 104, but umpire Darrell Hair gave runs to what he saw as a bottom edge.

England's batting fell away at the end as Flintoff, Liam Plunkett (0), Geraint Jones (4) and Panesar (0) all failed.

Muralitharan claimed his 52nd five-wicket haul in test cricket.

REUTERS DH RN0113