Sri Lanka shot out for 139 in England tour opener

Sri Lanka were in for a rude shock in their tour opener at Worcester when they were shot out for 139 in their first innings by England Lions on the first day of their 4-day fixture yesterday.

After rain had delayed the start, in conditions ideal for swing bowling Sri Lanka put into bat first, were all at sea against left-armer Josh Hull (3/30) and Zaman Akhter (5/32) who accounted for eight wickets between them.

Dimuth Karunaratne made the top score of 26 off 38 balls, but the batsman who spent the most time in the middle was left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya. Coming to bat at the fall of the sixth wicket at 81, Jayasuriya stuck it out for 62 minutes adding 53 valuable runs to the total before he was dismissed for a plucky 20 scored off 45 balls (4 fours).

Jayasuriya was into the action when Lions began their reply when off his second ball he broke the opening stand of 72 by having opener Ben McKinney caught and bowled for a brisk 46 made off 30 balls (7 fours, 1 six).

Pacie Milan Rathnayake accounted for the other opener Rob Yates for 25 as England Lions moved to 84-2 after 15 overs.