Thursday 26 May 2011

England v Sri Lanka, 1st Test - Day One Review

Close of play
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat - rain prevented play until 3.30pm
Sri Lanka 133-2 (Paranavitana 58*, Dilshan 50)


In a sentence
Considering rain cut the day in half the tourists would probably have accepted 133-2 at the close, though with Sangakkara back in the hutch England won't be disappointed.

Player of the day
Newly appointed skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan was classy and composed at the crease for his half-century before limply giving his wicket away misjudging a stock Swann delivery. Scored at a good clip by exploiting Broad's lax control of line and length with a range of crisp offside play.


Moment of the day
Kumar Sangakkara falling victim to a combination of a superb delivery from Anderson and questionable umpiring from Rod Tucker up in the TV booth. Whilst it is true that there was a noise as the ball passed the edge, and indeed there was a fleck of heat on the hotspot image, to say it met the conclusive standard supposedly required to overturn a standing umpire's decision is highly debatable. As ever, the DRS debate will run on and on.


Wickets
Dilshan b Swann 50 - bottom edge into the stumps trying to cut a ball slightly too full and straight

Sangakkara c Prior b Anderson 11 - jaffa of an inswinger pitching on the stumps induced the faintest of edges (given out on review)

Outlook for tomorrow
England will have to bowl with more discipline on a slow and steady pitch to dislodge the compact Paranavitana. If the Sri Lankan left-hander can continue at his own untroubled pace and let the flashier stroke players of the two Jayawardenes and Samaraweera to kick on around him then an imposing score could be in the offing.

No comments:

Post a Comment