Sri Lanka come through cold Manchester with heads held high

Sri Lanka had their moments against England in the first Test at Old Trafford       

MANCHESTER: Sri Lanka may have lost the first Test against England by five wickets, but the positives they got out of the game are certain to help them give the hosts a good run in the remaining two Tests in London, where the conditions will be much friendlier than what they experienced at Old Trafford.

In cold and bustling windy conditions with temperatures at times touching 13 degrees, Sri Lanka gave a good account of themselves to give England a good contest despite the fact that in both innings, they lost early wickets and had to fight back hard to make it a real contest.

In the first innings, the Captain Dhananjaya de Silva and debutant Milan Rathnayake scored 70s apiece to give the team a decent first innings total of 236 from 6-3 and, in the second innings it was fifties from experienced batters Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal coupled with that, a brilliant first-up hundred from Kamindu Mendis that saw Sri Lanka go past 300 after losing the first two wickets for one run. England set a target of 205 to chase in the fourth innings and approached it with great trepidation, quite unlike the Bazzball style of play they are used to. That Sri Lanka made England fight for every run and managed to capture five wickets is the kind of confidence they will carry into the next Test at Lord’s starting Thursday week.

It’s not easy coming to England, and under the conditions the Test was played, to adjust easily. But full credit to fast bowler Asitha Fernando, who bowled splendidly in both innings and looked like taking a wicket each time, he was handed the ball and left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya whose two deliveries to dismiss Harry Brook and Chris Woakes in the first innings, came close to being ranked to Shane Warne’s ball of the century delivery to Mike Gatting. That Jayasuriya could not produce the same results in the second innings was due to the fact that the wicket had lost its bounce and bite and had slowed down considerably.

Only four of Sri Lanka’s 18-man squad has played in a Test match in England before and full credit to them for making a game of it.