Sri Lanka won the first Test beating England by a margin of 75 runs and with a day to spare. Chasing a target of 340, England, which held out great hopes from the morning, folded up seven balls after tea for 264, its fourth defeat in as many Tests.
“Beating any team is great,” said Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene, winning the first Test he captained after the recent upheavals in the sport in the country. “It was a great opportunity to play the No. 1 (ranked) team and come out on top. We will cherish this definitely,” he said.
Confident start
Kevin Pietersen (30) and Jonathan Trott (112) began the morning confidently but very cautiously and had a full house of English supporters behind them. Peitersen was the first to go, snapped by Mahela Jayawardene off an attempted whip off the wily Suraj Randiv.
In the first hour, just over 30 runs materialised, and the third fifty — from 100 to 150 — took 144 balls.
At lunch, England had progressed to 177 for four in 70 overs with Trott and Matt Prior (41), the last recognised England pair, looking good.
But all good things come to an end and luck sometimes plays a role in it. Sri Lanka's slice of luck came when Prior played a full-blooded sweep only to see the ball stick to the body of Lahiru Thirimanne at forward short-leg.
That was Rangana Herath's wicket number 10, the first of his career. He picked up two more to take his match tally to 12. “Herath is our most experienced bowler. He had lots of responsibility and he responded well.
“Today, he was patient and kept bowling long spells,” Jayawardene heaped praise on his main spinner, who was declared the Man-of-the-Match.
It was just the break that Sri Lanka needed as England crumbled after that partnership was broken. The famed tail did not wag this time as the last five English batsmen made 9, 5, 1, 5 and 0.
From a healthy 233 for five, England collapsed to 264 all out. “We made too many mistakes. In international cricket there is no room for mistakes,” said England captain Andrew Strauss after the match.
Trott's fighting century was the lone bright spot in England's second innings. But it was not enough to inspire the visitor to a win.
Ever since Muttiah Muralitharan retired, after his 800th wicket at Galle in 2010, Sri Lanka has won just one Test — in South Africa. But left-arm spinner Herath's perseverance, ably supported by offie Randiv, steered the game Sri Lanka's way.
For English fans, numbering over 8000, it was a double blow. They had to first pay huge cost for the tickets and then their team lost so meekly which was so difficult to digest. A local heavyweight even charged those perched on the Fort ramparts.
The second Test begins in Colombo on April 3.
Scoreboard
Sri Lanka — 1st innings: 318.
England — 1st innings: 193.
Sri Lanka — 2nd innings: 214.
England — 2nd innings: A. Strauss c Dilshan b Herath 27, A. Cook c P. Jayawardene b Herath 14, J. Trott c Dilshan b Randiv 112, K. Pietersen c M. Jayawardene b Randiv 30, I. Bell lbw b Herath 13, M. Prior c Thirimanne b Herath 41, S. Patel c Dilshan b Herath 9, S. Broad (not out) 5, G. Swann lbw b Herath 1, J. Anderson c P. Jayawardene b Randiv 5, M. Panesar c Dilshan b Randiv 0; Extras (lb-6, w-1): 7; Total (in 99 overs): 264.
Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-48, 3-118, 4-152, 5-233, 6-252, 7-256, 8-259, 9-264.
Sri Lanka bowling: Welegedara 13-2-40-0, Lakmal 10-5-22-0, Herath 38-9-97-6, Dilshan 12-1-25-0, Randiv 26-2-74-4.
A factual error has been corrected in this article on March 29, 2012
