Sri Lanka lose early wickets as rain hampers day one

Elmo RODRIGOPULLE reporting from England

Only 18 overs of play was possible at the time of our going to press and Sri Lanka were 29 for 3 on day one of the Third and Final Test against England on a rain affected day at the Rose Bowl, here today.

It has so far been a start, stop, start, stop Test and more rain and bad weather is predicted for the second day and not much cricket will be possible. At the wickets were Mahela Jayawardena on 3 and Thilan Samaraweea on no score.

When play re-started, after the second stoppage and the dismissal of Thirimanne, the lights came on and in Tremlett’s fifth ball disaster struck when Paranavitana was out LBW without adding to his score of 11.

With the addition of six runs, Sangakkara who for his standards is having a very poor tour, lost concentration and attempted a big drive to a ball that was off line from Anderson and nicked to Prior after making two runs. 29 for 3. It was an irresponsible shot considering his experience and class.

The Sri Lankan openers Tharanga Paranavitana and Lahiru Thirimanne did not show any nerves or uneasiness, as they negotiated the England pacemen for nearly an hour. Thirimanne making his debut was cool and compact. He seems to have the right technique, temperament and is in line and the pace, bounce and the movement did not worry him.

Paranavitana too batted confidently and when it was getting dark and threats of rain, Thirimanne was beaten by the swing of Anderson, got a snick and was snapped by the safe hands of Andrew Strauss in at first slip for 10 with the score on 23. Sangakkara walked in faced two balls when the rains came down and halted the game.

The England bowlers Anderson, Broad and Tremlett were off line most of the time and wasted the new ball spraying it all over. Had they pitched the ball up and looked for movement they could have worried the batsmen. Only 13 overs were bowled.

The rains that started on Wednesday, continued till Thursday early morning and play starting on time looked bleak. But suddenly the clouds began to roll by and to the delight of the cricket spectators who were quickly filling up the ground, blue skies appeared and the sun broke through.

The ground staff as usual were working like beavers. The covers were removed exposing a tinge of grass on the wicket. The super soppers were soaking the water if any were left.

Umpires Aleem Dar and Rod Tucker after an 11.15 inspection decided that the toss would be at 11.45 and play would start at 12.15 and did not everyone heave a sigh of relief. It was nice and warm when play began.

Hampshire Cricket Club who were hosting a Test match for the first time in their history, having won the bid offering one million pounds to conduct a Test, were worried that the Test would be washout. Up to the eve of Test nearly 5,000 thousand tickets were left unsold. When it was known that there would be play, tickets began to move.

With the tinge of grass on the wicket, it was obvious that the captain winning the toss would ask the other side in. And it came as no surprise when Andrew Strauss beat Kumar Sangakkara who has a tendency of losing tosses and who is captaining Sri Lanka for the last time was asked to bat.

The days when captains eagerly looked forward to winning the toss and batting first are long gone. And in modern day cricket that’s how it will probably remain.

Sri Lanka gave young stylish left hander Lahiru Thirimanne 21, his first Test cap, a dream of any cricketer and he became the 116th national player for Sri Lanka. Thissara Perera who did not have the good fortune of playing in the holy land of cricket - Lord’s – replaced Ferveez Maharoof. England brought in James Anderson and benched Steve Finn. Rose Bowl, Southampton, Thursday

SRI LANKA
1ST INNINGS

NT Paranavitana lbw b Tremlett		11
HDRL Thirimanne c Strauss b Anderson	10
KC Sangakkara c Prior b Anderson	 2
DPMD Jayawardene not out		 3
TT Samaraweera not out			 0
Extras (lb 1, w 2)			 3
Total (3 wickets; 18 overs)		29
To bat: HAPW Jayawardene†, NLTC Perera, HMRKB Herath, CRD Fernando, UWMBCA Welegedara, RAS Lakmal.  
Fall of wickets: 1-23 (Thirimanne, 12.4 ov), 2-23 (Paranavitana, 13.5 ov), 3-29 (Sangakkara, 16.6 ov).
Bowling: Anderson 9 3 12 2 (1w), Broad 4 0 11 0 (1w),  CT Tremlett 5 3 5 1 
England team - AJ Strauss, AN Cook, IJL Trott, KP Pietersen, IR Bell, EJG Morgan, MJ Prior, SCJ Broad, GP Swann, CT Tremlett, JM Anderson.