England fight back after early setback
Lasith Embuldeniya continued to rock the England top order
England recovered from an early setback after losing two wickets thanks to some resilient batting by skipper Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow to end the second day of the second Test against Sri Lanka without any further mishap at Galle yesterday.
Two down for five, England ended the day at 98-2 in reply to Sri Lanka’s first innings total of 381 still trailing by 283 runs. Left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya who opened with Suranga Lakmal, accounted for the wickets of openers Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley during the sixth and eighth overs to force the visitors on the backfoot.
But Root, who crafted a double century a week ago, continued his sublime form to be unbeaten on 67 while Bairstow was circumspect during his knock of 24 not out. Root faced 77 deliveries to score his 50th half century, spiced with 10 boundaries while Bairstow negotiated 65 balls hitting four boundaries.
James Anderson claimed his second five-for in Asian sub-continent
Sri Lankans were fired up with the two early English wickets but failed to continue the momentum even after rotating the attack with bowlers sending down 30 overs.
Lakmal, Embuldeniya and Asitha Fernando were far more economical, yet Root and Bairstow batted steadily to frustrate the Sri Lankans during their unbroken third wicket partnership of 93 runs.
After batting for almost two sessions and facing 170 deliveries, off-spinner Dilruwan Perera returned to bowl effectively, but the Englishmen treated debutant off-spinner Ramesh Mendis rather harshly, raking in 19 runs off the two overs the 25-year-old delivered.
With the pitch looking to become more friendly for spinners during the next three days, the second and final Test should turn out to be a result-oriented game, with individual brilliance taking centre stage.
The day belonged to England’s James Anderson, who claimed his 30th five-for, and Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella and Dilruwan Perera, who became a virtual nuisance to the visitors.
Niroshan Dickwella and Dilruwan Perera added 89 runs for the seventh wicket - Pix courtesy SLC Media
At 38, England paceman James Anderson vehemently proved that age is just a number, to claim six Sri Lankan scalps to help his side restrict the home team to 381 before tea on the second day. Anderson claimed 6 for 40, his best figures in Asian subcontinent, that of Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Perera, Oshada Fernando, Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella and Suranga Lakmal.
Resuming the second day at 229-4, overnight batsmen Mathews and Dickwella had to survive the first hour of play if Sri Lanka was reach a massive total.
Spinning allrounder Dilruwan Perera’s 67 was a welcome knock at a crucial stage, which could help the home team level the two-match series. Perera’s knock was matured and important as that of Dickwella, who fell eight runs short of a deserving maiden century.
Coming in at No.8, Perera batted with great confidence, stepping out to launch eight boundaries and a six, in particular targeting left-arm spinner Jack Leach. He featured in a well composed stand of 89 runs for the seventh wicket with Dickwella and went on to frustrate the Englishmen partnering with Lasith Embuldeniya and Asitha Fernando to add 49 runs. His seventh half century came off 170 deliveries before falling to Sam Curran, caught at deep square leg by Leach.
Comically all three replacements coming in place of Kusal Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga and Dasun Shanaka — Oshada Fernando, Ramesh Mendis and Suranga Lakmal — were dismissed for ducks in different fashion.
Mathews was unbeaten on 107, and was strongly poised to emulate his knock of 200 not out, which came exactly 368 days ago against Zimbabwe in Harare. However, the former skipper added just three runs to his overnight score. But a submissive appeal, intended for a leg-before-wicket, eventually ended up in favour of the Englishmen after Mathews was initially called not out.
After Joe Root’s call for a review, Mathews escaped the lbw but was in trouble, as the ball appeared to brush the inside-edge of the bat before touching the knee-roll of his pad and travelling towards wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.
Thus ended Mathews’ knock of 110 after becoming the fifth Sri Lankan batsman to score more than 5,000 Test runs with his tally reaching 6,189, behind Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayarawdene, Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva. His 11th Test century came off 238 deliveries and contained 11 fours. He shared a 117-run partnership for the fourth wicket with stand-in skipper Dinesh Chandimal and was building up Sri Lanka’s innings with a 39-run stand for the fourth wicket with Dickwell before Anderson, playing in his 157th Test, claimed Mathews as his fourth victim.
Anderson already had three wickets to his name, and added three more towards Sri Lanka’s progress. Anderson’s five-for was the wicket of Dickwella. The southpaw looked solid, proving critics wrong, but still ended without a hundred in his 41st Test appearance. Dickwella, who resumed from his overnight score of 19, went on to achieve his career best in Tests with a subtle knock of 92 off 121 deliveries, before virtually throwing his wicket away, attempting to play over mid-off but finding the safe hands of Jack Leach.
The English bowler’s sixth victim was Suranga Lakmal, who was caught by Zak Crawley at gully. Anderson recorded his 30th and second straight Test five-for away, with his previous haul of 5 for 40 coming against South Africa in Cape Town last year.
Unlike in the previous game, where England won by 7 wickets, Sri Lanka played to their potential with one century and three half centuries. The bright side of their batting lineup was the resilience of the middle order and a stubborn tail, which added 49 runs to the total.
| Scoreboard | |
| Sri Lanka (overnight 229-4; Mathews 107, Dickwella 19) Lahiru Thirimanne c Buttler b Anderson 43 Kusal Perera c Root b Anderson 6 Oshada Fernando b Anderson 0 Angelo Mathews c Buttler b Anderson 110 Dinesh Chandimal lbw b Wood 52 Niroshan Dickwella c Leach b Anderson 92 Ramesh Mendis c Buttler b Wood 0 Dilruwan Perera c Leach b Curran 67 Suranga Lakmal c Crawley b Anderson 0 Lasith Embuldeniya c Root b Wood 7 Asitha Fernando not out 0 Extras (lb2, nb1, w1) 4 Total (all out: 139.3 overs) 381 Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Perera), 2-7 (Fernando), 3-76 (Thirimanne), 4-193 (Chandimal), 5-232 (Mathews), 6-243 (Mendis), 7-332 (Dickwella), 8-332 (Lakmal), 9-364 (Embuldeniya), 10-381 (Perera) Bowling: James Anderson 29-13-40-6, Sam Curran 18.3-3-60-1, Jack Leach, 38-5-119-0, Mark Wood 28-4-84-3 (nb1,w1), Dom Bess 26-2-76-0 England Zak Crawley c Thirimanne b Embuldeniya 5 Dom Sibley lbw b Embuldeniya 0 Jonny Bairstow not out 24 Joe Root not out 67 Extras (b2) 2 Total (2 wickets: 30 overs) 98 Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Sibley), 2-5 (Crawley) To bat: Dan Lawrence, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Dom Bess, Jack Leach, Mark Wood, James Anderson Bowling: Suranga Lakmal 5-2-10-0, Lasith Embuldeniya 11-4-33-2, Asitha Fernando 5-2-12-0, Dilruwan Perera 7-1-22-0, Ramesh Mendis 2-0-19-0 |