Lanka reeling at 114 for 6 wickets
Elmo RODRIGOPULLE Reporting from England
Sri Lanka were struggling at 114 for six at tea on the second day of
the four day match against the England Lions at Derby Cricket ground
here, today. They trail by 379 runs.
The Sri Lankans were given a sound start by Tharanga Paranavitharne
26 and Tillekeratne Dilshan 38 who put on a stand of 59 for the first
wicket. But once these two went, wickets tumbled with Kumar Sangakkara
going for 15, Mahela Jayawardena for 1, Dinesh Chandimal 0 and Prasanna
Jayawardena also for no score.
Medium pacers Dernbach 3 for 22 and Shahzad 2 for 18 caused the
collapse.
England Lions resuming on 394 for 4, declared their innings at 493
for 8 with overnight not out batsman Eoin Morgan missing out on a double
hundred being out for 193 with 30 fours and 5 sixes. It was a truly
remarkable innings.
Samit Patel made 119 with 18 fours. Their fifth wicket partnership
was worth 266 runs. J. Bairstow made 22 and A. Shahzad chipped in with
20. Thissara Perera and Dilhara Fernando had 3 wickets each for 88 and
100.
To recap on the first day, the England Lions made merry with the gift
given to them by Sri Lanka skipper Tillekeratne Dilshan when he won the
toss and asked the opponents to take first strike. The early cloudy
conditions which seemed ideal for seam and swing would have prompted
Dilshan�s decision.
When Thissara Perera knocked back opener Adams� stumps with the score
on seven, it looked as though Dilshan�s decision was justified. But as
the Lions innings began to unwind, it questioned Dilshan�s decision. The
Lankans were caught in the lions� den.
Watching this game and of particular interest to chief of selectors
Geoff Miller and coach Andy Flower was the three players in their radar
for selection to the England Test team to be announced on Sunday were
Ravi Bopara, Eoin Morgan and Samit Patel.
Miller and Flower would have been delighted with the form, of Morgan
and Patel who made confident hundreds, but would have been disappointed
with the failure of Bopara. Morgan and Patel were simply marvellous. One
of them should get the nod of the selectors.
The left hand, right hand combination of Morgan and Patel, just toyed
with the Lankan bowling. They were devastating and thrilled the sparse
crowd that was present, some of them Sri Lankans. Once again the
inexperience in the Lankan attack was obvious.
Of the Sri Lankan bowlers, it was Dilhara Fernando who failed to play
a single match in 2011 World Cup and in the IPL who impressed most. On
this form Fernando should spearhead the Lankan attack in the Three Tests
with the first one beginning on May 26 in Cardiff.
ENGLAND LIONS 1st innings
JHK Adams b T Perera 4
JWA Taylor c P Jayawardena b D Fernando 76
RS Bopara c P Jayawardena b D Fernando 17
JC Hildreth b NP Fernando 35
EJG Morgan lbw b T Perera 193
SR Patel b D Fernando 119
JM Bairstow c D Fernando b T Perera 22
A Shahzad not out 20
G Onions st P Jayawardena b Randiv 1
JW Dernbach not out 1
Extras (lb 5) 5
TOTAL (8 wickets decl, 109 overs) 493
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-47, 3-105, 4-162, 5-428, 6-470, 7-477, 8-492.
Bowling: NP Fernando 25-2-101-1, T Perera 22-5-88-3,
D Fernando 21-3-100-3, S Randiv 26-2-120-1, T Paranavithana 1-0-10-0, T Samaraweera 6-0-32-0, TM Dilshan 8-0-37-0.
SRI LANKA 1st innings
T Paranavithana lbw b Onions 26
TM Dilshan c Hildreth b Shahzad 38
K Sangakkara c Bairstow b Shahzad 15
M Jayawardena c Patel b Dernbach 0
T Samaraweera not out 22
D Chandimal c Adams b Dernbach 0
P Jayawardena c Hildreth b Dernbach 1
S Randiv not out 3
Extras (b 1, lb 5, nb 3) 9
TOTAL (6 wickets, 30 overs) 114
Bowling: G Onions 9-0-31-1, ST Finn 12-2-42-0, JW Dernbach 9.3-1-25-3, A Shahzad 6-0-18-2. |
