The Sri Lankan Test cricket side have won only one match since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan. Their highest-ranked bowler is the left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who comes in at 14th in the world.
On the first day of the ongoing first Test, England gave a debut to Samit Patel, the Nottinghamshire batsmen who bowls fifth-bowler-standard left-arm spin.
He has a first-class batting average of 41 and is a good player of the turning ball. He also has a bowling average of 38. Eoin Morgan is the batsman who was dropped to make room for this batting all-rounder.
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat first, making best use of the pitch. Typically Sri Lankan pitches are great for batting on the first two to three days then deteriorate with increasing turn.
In preparation, the pitch was watered to make it last five days, thus there was something there for the England seamers in the first hour. Play started at 10am and the temperature was already above 30 Celsius.
In the third over with Sri Lanka on just 11, Anderson had both the lefthanders. Lahiru Thirimanne (3 off 12 balls, caught by Graeme Swann at second slip) and Kumar Sangakkara (0 off 1 caught behind by keeper Matt Prior) went quickly. Both were driving at length balls swinging away from them – Anderson’s stock ball to lefthanders.
It was only Sanga’s third first-ball duck in his great career. Both balls could and should have been left easily.
In the fourth over with Sri Lanka 2 for 15, Dilshan (11 off 8) was out defensively edging to Andrew Strauss at first slip off the bowling of the six-foot-seven Stuart Broad, bowling back of a length.
Of late, Swann has been struggling against right-handers, so part of Swann might have been a bit annoyed that his best mate Anderson got both of the top order’s lefthanders out. Swann’s bowling average is under 23 against southpaws.
Mahela Jayawardene has an average of 63.37 in Sri Lanka, but only 37.94 outside of it. Before this innings, from 20 matches against England, he had eight fifties, six hundreds, and averaged 57.87, and that’s the main thing. He averages 47.44 over his 10 Test matches in England.
In the 33rd over at 3-67 the fourth wicket fell, when Thilan Samaraweera (20 off 82 balls) was run out by Anderson getting his fingers on a drive from Jayawardene and deflecting it on to the stumps. It was unintentional, Anderson trying to gather the ball one-handed. Samaraweera had been slow but he had kept Jayawardene company. It was a pattern repeated through Sri Lanka’s innings.
Dinesh Chandimal and Jayawardene brought up a 51-run partnership from 91 balls in the 48th over. In the 50th though, Sri Lanka lost their fifth wicket, Chandimal (27 off 48) slog-sweeping to leg from Samit Patel. The leading edge ballooned to cover and Ian Bell. This was Patel’s first Test wicket.
In the first over after tea, Prasanna Jayawardene (23 off 40 balls) was out lbw to James Anderson. Prasanna used a review to challenge but the original decision was upheld by the third umpire as an umpire’s call. Anderson’s reverse in-swinger drew him level with fellow Lancastrian Brian Statham on 252 wickets for England.
Sri Lanka lost their seventh wicket at 191 when Suraj Randiv (12 off 15) was run out by Andrew Strauss with a direct hit at the bowler’s end.
I hate to say it, but from here on in, Jayawardene (especially with his footwork) made Swann look like a country bowler rather than the top 10 bowler he is. Oh, for a carrom ball.
Mahela reached 101 with a paddle sweep down to fine leg. It came off 200 balls and included 12 fours and two sixes. This century took him past Don Bradman on 29, and he is now the joint eighth (along with Mathew Hayden) on the list of Test century makers. It was his seventh hundred against England.
Then there was an eighth-wicket 50-run partnership between Herath and Jayawardene. It dragged on to the 81st over, and took the score to 8-253, before Samit Patel got the lefthanded Herath (5 off 30) out LBW. The umpire’s decision was upheld on review.
Probably because he had to look directly into the setting sun, Monty Panesar dropped Jayawardene on 147 at fine leg off the bowling of Anderson. Monty’s muff on 258-8 brought up Mahela’s 14th score of 150 plus. This was the third chance from Jayawardene that England failed to hold on to. The first came when he was on 64; a half chance that Anderson almost got to at slip to spinner Swann.
Anderson also dropped a caught-and-bowled chance when Jayawardene was on 90.
There soon followed a fourth chance, with Jayawardene on 152, when Monty again dropped a take, this time at mid on off the bowling of Broad.
Jayawardene had come in at 11-2. He was slow at the start but punished nearly every bad ball he received. His balance, footwork, and timing were impeccable. Despite some late tired chances, it was an enviable display, and he safely reached stumps.
Sri Lanka had gone on to 289-8, with Jayawardene unbeaten on 168 off 290 balls and Welegedara not-out on 10. Their run rate in the evening session was 4.17 a marked improvement on the previous two.
Day one of a Test match in Sri Lanka and I didn’t once use the words ‘turgid’, ‘attritional’, or ‘wilted’ …even though it was some of these things early on, and England did wilt a bit with the second new ball.
Ah well.
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