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By Chris Dhambarage

The Sri Lanka indoor cricket team took a one nil lead in the three test series defeating the touring England indoor cricket team in the first indoor test match played at the Austasia Sports Complex in Thalawathugoda yesterday.

Sri Lanka scored 127 runs from their allotted 16 overs after having restricted England to just 60 runs from their allotted 16 overs. The Lankans simply cruised along following a good start provided by openers Roshan Weerasinghe and Roshan Jaymon. They put on 33 runs from the first four overs and thereafter Chryshanta Peiris and Thushendra de Silva consolidated their position with a 25 run stand.

Sri Lanka's most experienced pair of skipper Asela Pathirana and Sanjeewa Jayaratne then added the finishing touches with a brilliant 35 run partnership which completely sealed the game in their favour.

Earlier Sri Lanka did well to restrict the England team to 60 runs from their allotted 16 overs. The Englishmen never recovered after losing a wicket in the very first ball of the innings and were up against some good accurate bowling. The England openers Andy Walton and Imran Jamiel put on 23 runs but in doing so they were dismissed on three occasions mainly due to some superb fielding from the Lankans.

Sri Lanka maintained the pressure during the next four overs conceding only three runs to the England second pair of Jason Green and Tom Windschffel. They never allowed the batsmen to settle down and dismissed them on four occasions.

The England third pair of Ian Parking and Chris Norton made a desperate attempt to consolidate their position bringing the score up to 43 runs at the end of the 12th over. The pair batted well and were dismissed only once setting the pace for a decent total at the end. However the Lankans inflicted three run outs during the last four overs of the innings to put the opposition more on the defensive. Simon Roberts and Paul Thorburn went through some anxious moments and eventually brought up the score up to 60 runs at the end of the 16 overs. 

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