Following his side’s loss to England in the first Test, Sri Lankan skipper Dhananjaya de Silva said that the batting line-up needs to find ways to support each other and score runs in testing English conditions against their world-class bowlers.
Sri Lankan batters fought hard, with contributions from Kamindu Mendis, Angelo Matthews, Dinesh Chandimal, Silva and Milan Rathnayake standing out. But it still was not enough to overcome England, who were powered by the contributions of their middle order in the absence of their injured opener Zak Crawley and skipper Ben Stokes.
Following the game, Silva said during the post-match presentation that bowlers failed to put their deliveries in the right areas.
“I would say that the second innings of batting and bowling were better than the first, we have not done well overall, though. We didn’t put the ball in the right areas, even in fielding, we did not take our chances,” said Silva.
Silva said that he is confident about his team’s batting line-up, but they have to find ways to score runs. He was appreciative of Kamindu’s century and noted a lack of support for him from the other end.
“I am confident about our batting line-up, they will have to find ways to score runs in these conditions and against a disciplined bowling line-up like England. He has done well in all games so far (on Kamindu Mendis), averages 108, and, I think, has the runs; and the rest of us need to support him well. We need to stay with our plans and execute them better in the next test,” concluded the skipper.
In the match, SL won the toss and opted to bat first. Struggling at 113/7, it was knocks from skipper Dhananjaya de Silva (74 in 84 balls, with eight fours) and Milan Rathnayake (72 in 135 balls, with six fours and two sixes) that pushed SL to 236/10.
Chris Woakes (3/32) and Shoaib Bashir (3/55) were the top bowlers for England.
Despite a poor start and a tricky score of 67/3, fine performances from middle order batters Joe Root (42 in 57 balls with four boundaries), Harry Brook (56 in 73 balls with four boundaries), and centurion Jamie Smith (111 in 148 balls, with eight fours and a six) helped England attain a lead of 122 runs as they were bundled out for 358 runs.
Ashitha Fernando (4/103) and Prabhat Jayasuriya (3/85) delivered fine spells for Sri Lanka.
In their second inning, SL once again found themselves in a troublesome position, with the score reading 95/4. However, veterans Angelo Matthews (65 in 145 balls, with two fours and a six), Dinesh Chandimal (79 in 119 balls, with seven fours) formed a 78-run partnership to push SL towards a lead. Later, keeping his fine form, Kamindu Mendis slammed his second Test ton in five innings, scoring 113 in 183 balls, with 15 fours and a six. SL put up a total of 326/10, giving them a respectable lead of 204 runs.
Woakes and Matthew Potts (3/47) took fine three wickets each to lead England in bowling charts.
In reply, England was in a tight position at 70/3. However, Root’s calm and composed half-century (62* in 128 balls with two fours) and solid contributions from Brook (32 in 68 balls, with three fours) and Smith (39* in 48 balls, with four boundaries and a six) took England to a five wicket win.
England take a 1-0 lead in two-match series.
Smith took home the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his century.
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First Published: Aug 25 2024 | 9:24 AM IST
