Angelo Mathews couldn’t reproduce his come-from-behind century from 10 years ago, but at least showed some steel after tourists’ poor start
He couldn’t reproduce his come-from-behind century from 10 years ago, but at least the former captain showed some steel after tourists’ poor startIt is a slightly odd assertion, given that it started with them losing their first three wickets for six runs and limping to the first lunch break at 80 for five, but for most of the opening two days of this game Sri Lanka played rather well.
At least Angelo Mathews regained his own. Having failed to score in his team’s first innings and then punctuated their efforts in the field with a succession of half-hearted ball-chases – at 37 he is perhaps not at his most athletic – in their second, and with his side in dire need, he conjured memories ofa decade ago.
The first sign of trouble came before play even started, which was the puzzling moment Sri Lanka chose to make the first significant change to their field. Jerusalem played, the players came on, Prabath Jayasuriya got read to bowl the day’s first over, and then everything stopped for a couple of minutes while some pads were brought on to allow Nishan Madushka to take up a position close to the bat.
It was not the only sign of muddled thinking. Having conceded just one run, Jayasuriya was replaced by Asitha Fernando, who after a single over of his own – featuring, to be fair, two Jamie Smith boundaries – was replaced again by Jayasuriya. Those runs took Smith to 86, and close enough to triple figures for nerves to start rattling, at which point Sri Lanka switched to defensive fields and a genial jog towards a century became a plod.
Which was when things turned really grizzly. England’s innings ended just before 1pm and would normally have signalled lunch, but in an effort to make up for the overs lost to rain on Thursday, the first session was extended by an additional 15 minutes. By the time anyone ate, Sri Lanka were two down and as in the first innings a key batter – Mathews himself on Wednesday, Madushka here – had left a ball that would have hit the stumps.
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