A short-leg fielder’s long reach to turn the fate of a Test match
On a typical second day SSC wicket; initially the Lankans came up with heady performance thanks to a workmanlike second wicket stand of 142 runs between opener Dimuth Karunaratne and one-drop batsman Dhananjaya de Silva.
The wicket carried no terrors on the easy paced wicket. It promised good batting conditions on day two in spite of the overnight rain. Yet, it was a repeat performance of the second Test at Pallekelle. Both these batsmen added 96 runs for the second wicket and then gave away the initiative. In this game the story is no different.
Then hell broke loose. The reason was the anticipation of the England short-leg fielder Keaton Jennings. He proved that he is a pivotal part of the England spin attack’s success. When the fifth Lankan wicket fell at the score of 205, Jennings had already sent back four of the Lankan top order and mostly through some hard to believe blinders, especially the two catches to send home opener Danushka Gunatillaka and Roshen Silva.
From a promising 183 for 2 at tea, the Lankans played havoc with their batting talents and were all out for a low 240 all out; trailing by 96 runs on the first inning.
Nevertheless a series it’s a dead rubber and if there is anything to be salvaged is the Lankan cricket pride which has taken a severe beating in all fronts.
What were the learnings factors for both sides? For sure the England side is happy. They now have learned how to win on slow low wickets. An exercise that they started to practice almost five years ago when they sent five young English cricketers to train in Lankan conditions. Two of them are Moeen Ali and Ben Foakes who respectively turned out for Badureliya CC and Colts in the Premier League Tournament. Seemingly a promised three-nil white wash vindicates this argument. England, they did their homework.
Dimuth Karunaratne, top scored for Sri Lanka with 83 and put on 142 runs for the second wicket with Dhananjaya de Silva, who made 73
Are we preparing for the post Herath era? May be yes on our own wickets. Lakshan Sandakan bagged his second fifer in his short Test carrier, Malinada Pushpakumara also is taking wickets in his formative period, while Dilruwan Perera also could be responsible for a few scalps. But, the success ends at that point. We are still woefully looking for someone pair off with Dimuth Karunaratne, but, Kausal Silva’s replacement Danushka Gunatillaka is no better than the rest. During the series there were four centuries scored by the Englishmen so far, but, the Lankans have managed none. There is no point in showing the bat after a fifty if the overall result is negative.
The day began with the Englishmen at the crease with their score reading 317 for 7, but, inning lasted only 25 minutes with Angelo completing a fine running catch at long on to get rid of last man Jack Leach off Perera when the England score read 336.
Batting for the second time the visitors were 3 for no loss in 4 overs, when bad-light and rain stopped play, with twelve remaining.
With three days of play remaining, I fear there are no predictions needed. The side that prepared best would come out with the positive result, may by the fourth day of the third and final Test.
At the end of all at the press briefing Dhananjaya de Silva came up with a meek excuse of not being able to adapt to the situation. But, that has been our tale of woes right along.
Scoreboard
England 1st innings
Rory Burns b Perera 14
Adil Rashid's best career figures of 5/49 came at SSC - Pix by Priyantha Wickramaarachchi
(Tries to cut off the backfoot misses and bowled)
Keaton Jennings c Silva b Pushpakumara 13
(Looks to nudge it away, got it off the face of the bat, sharp low catch to leg-slip)
Jonny Bairstow b Sandakan 110
(Goes for a big hit, misses it and bowled)
Joe Root c Gunathilaka b Sandakan 46
(Attempt to sweep, top edged to mid-wicket)
Ben Stokes c de Silva b Sandakan 57
(Steps out to the wristspinner, slides off the edge to the slip)
Jos Butler c & b Sandakan 16
(Hits it straight back towards the bowler who takes it overhead)
Moeen Ali c Mathews b Perera 33
(Dances down the pitch hits straight to long-off).
Ben Foakes c Dickwella b Pushpakumara 13
(Goes for the cut too close to him edges it to wicket-keeper)
Adil Rashid not out 21
Stuart Broad b Sandakan 0
(Tries to sweep beaten bowled around his legs)
Jack Leach c Mathews b Perera 2
(Coming down the track looking to go over long off, Miscues it)
Extras (b 7, lb 3, nb 1) 11
Total (92.5 Overs all out) 336
Fall of wickets: 1-22,2-36,3-136, 4-235, 5-254, 6-265, 7-294,8-328,9-329,10-336
Bowling: Suranga Lakmal 11-2-33-0, Dilruwan Perera 32.5-1-113-3, Malinda Pushpakumara 20-3-64-2, Lakshan Sandakan 22-0-95-5, Dhananjaya de Silva 5-0-16-0, Danushka Gunathilaka 2-0-5-0
Sri Lanka 1st innings
Danushka Gunathilaka c Jennings b Leach 18
(Skips down the track only managed to get it off inside part of the bat to short-leg)
Dimuth Karunaratne c Jennings b Rashid 83
(It hits the inside edge, on to the pad and pops out to short-leg)
Dhananjaya de Silva c Jennings b Rashid 73
(Flicked to the leg side caught at short-leg)
Kusal Mendis c Stokes b Rashid 27
(Edged straight to first slip)
Angelo Mathews c Foakes b Stokes 5
(Awkwardly attempts a pull, a faint edge to wicket-keeper)
Roshen Silva c Jennings b Rashid 3
(Batsman pushes to his left brilliantly caught at short-leg)
Niroshan Dickwella c Foakes b Stokes 5
(Looks to tickle it fine, wicket-keeper does the rest)
Dilruwan Perera c Foakes b Stokes 0
(Short ball, finds the gloves and wicket-keeper takes another)
Suranga Lakmal not out 3
Lakshan Sandakan run out (Rashid) 2
(Taps into the covers, attempts a cheeky single, falls short of ground)
Malinda Pushpakumara lbw b Rashid 13
(Playing on the backfoot, pinned on the pads ruled out after review)
Extras (lb 7, w1) 8
Total (65.5 overs all out) 240
Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-173, 3-187, 4-200, 5-205, 6-222, 7-222, 8-222, 9-224, 10-240
Bowling: Stuart Broad 9-2-36-0, Jack Leach 18-2-59-1, Moeen Ali 13-2-55-0, Adil Rashid 13.5-2-49-5, Joe Root 2-0-4-0, Ben Stokes 10-1-30-3
England 2nd innings
Rory Burns not out 2
Keaton Jennings not out 1
Extras 0
Total (4 overs 0 wickets) 3
To bat: Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Ben Foakes, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach
Bowling: Dilruwan Perera 2-1-1-0, Malinda Pushpakumara 1-0-2-0, Dhananjaya de Silva 1-1-0-0.