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England v Sri Lanka, 1st Test, Day 2 Review

Posted on May 27, 2011 by in Tests

Sri Lanka’s Prasana Jayawardene struck a gritty century on day two at Cardiff.

Close of play

England 47-1 (Cook 24*)
Sri Lanka 400 (P Jayawardene 112, Anderson 3-66)

In a sentence

Sri Lanka are in command after making hay against a disjointed attack shorn of Jimmy Anderson for most of the day, whose series is now in doubt.

Player of the day

Prasanna Jayawardene had the confidence to take on the England bowling in the afternoon session and was rewarded with several boundaries, a Nick Knight eulogy in the commentary box and a fine century to boot.  Comfortable against Swann and rarely troubled by England’s largely flat seam attack, his runs at no. 6 have gone some way to justifying the tourists’ selecting five genuine bowlers.

Moment of the day

Anderson’s working over of Mahela Jayawardene to start the day was swing bowling par excellence. 11 consecutive outswingers pitched up tempted the right-hander, followed by a full inducker that flummoxed the former Sri Lankan captain as he edged to second slip. But this expert piece of bowling also highlights how much England missed the Lancastrian when his strain put him out of action in the late afternoon.

Wickets

M Jayawardene c Strauss b Anderson 4 – thick edge high up the bat on an inswinger and was well taken by Strauss at second slip
Paranavitana b Tremlett 66 – dragged on flashing at a full ball pitching on off-stump
Samaraweera c Swann b Anderson 58 – angled into the body with a touch of swing and edged to second slip
Maharoof run out (Trott) 16 – guilty of lax backing up as Trott feathered a delivery driven back at him onto the stumps
Perera c Tremlett b Broad 25 – mistimed pull looped to mid-on
Herath c Trott b Swann 25 – filthy delivery slapped straight to cover
P Jayawardene c Prior b Broad 112 – tight line and length induced a regulation edge to the keeper
Lakmal c Broad b Swann 2 – excellent diving catch at mid-on to grasp a fulsome drive
*****
Strauss c M Jayawardene b Lakmal 20 –  a touch of away movement created an edge and a fine catch at second slip

Outlook for tomorrow

England will have to bat all day to avoid a significant deficit. The key question is whether Mendis and Herath can extract any venom from a benign surface, because if not a draw looks nailed on.

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