Fisher, Smith combine to route Lanka ‘A’ for 136

Wednesday, 1 February 2023 00:07 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

England Lions fast bowler Matthew Fisher holds the ball aloft after taking five wickets

Sadeera Samarawickrama was the only Sri Lanka ‘A’ batsman to resist with defiant 43

Alex Lees, Haseeb Hameed got England Lions off to good start with stand of 125

England Lions takes honours on day one of first unofficial test

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Yorkshire and England right-arm quick Matthew Fisher combined with Surrey’s wicket-keeper/batsman Jamie Smith to rout Sri Lanka ‘A’ for 136 on the opening day of the first 4-day unofficial test at the Galle International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

Fisher ended up taking five wickets for 34 runs in an inspired spell of bowling and was helped to a large extent by Smith who snapped up three catches off his bowling on his way to six dismissals in the innings (5 ct, 1 st).

England Test openers Alex Lees and Haseeb Hameed nearly wiped-out Sri Lanka ‘A’s total with a stand of 125 as England Lions ended a highly successful day on 249-3 scoring at a rapid rate of 5.18 runs per over. They enjoy a handy lead of 113 going into the second day today.

Lees made an attractive 56 off 69 balls striking 9 fours and one six before being castled by left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya.

Hameed, the captain of the England Lions side compensated for his cheap dismissals in the 3-day warm-up match (0 and 2) by going onto score a disciplined 81 off 109 balls (9 fours) building up another noteworthy partnership of 64 with Tom Haines who was undefeated on 62 scored off 72 balls (7 fours) with Josh Bohannon (26*) at the close.

Hameed fell to Sahan Arachchige’s off-breaks edging a catch behind the wicket to Sadeera Samarawickrama. Embuldeniya had his second success of the innings trapping Tom Abel (7) in front of the wicket but was on the expensive side his two wickets costing him 89 runs off 17 overs.

Choosing to bat first, Sri Lanka ‘A’s troubles began with the second over when in-form Nishan Madushka was trapped lbw by Fisher for one. Fisher and Sam cook bowled with a lot of hostility in their opening spells to unsettle the Lanka ‘A’ batsman.

Left-arm spinner Liam Patterson-White introduced into the attack as early as the seventh over caused further destruction when he removed two set batsmen Nuwanidu Fernando (17) and Oshada Fernando (21) within nine balls of each other.

Although Sadeera Samarawickrama held up one end wickets continued to tumble at the other with skipper Nipun Dananjaya (15), Sahan Arachchige (3) and Dunith Wellalage (0) all dismissed cheaply as Sri Lanka limped to lunch on a dismal 101-6.

Samarawickrama’s resistance was ended in the second over after lunch when Fisher coming for a new spell had him caught for 43 scored off 60 balls (7 fours). Lakshitha Manasinghe used the long handle to good effect hitting five fours in his 27-ball innings for 26, but Fisher finished off the innings with another fine spell of bowling taking 4/12 off 3.4 overs.

Overall, it was poor quality batting by Sri Lanka ‘A’ batters whose deficiencies were glaringly exposed by an England Lions attack on a surface that was blameless.

Scores: Sri Lanka ‘A’ 136 (Oshada Fernando 21, Sadeera Samarawickrama 43, Lakshitha Manasinghe 26, Matthew Fisher 5/34, Liam Patterson-White 3/51)

England Lions 249-3 at close (Alex Lees 56, Haseeb Hameed 81, Tom Haines 62*, Lasith Embuldeniya 2/89)