England Lions registered a stunning 167 runs victory over the hosts Sri Lanka ‘A’ in their first unofficial test concluded at Pallekelle International Cricket Stadium.
Bandula Warnapura’s son Madawa Warnapura showed his class when he delayed the English victory by scoring a patient century. 25 year old Madawa’s 268 ball knock of 108 runs consisted 10 boundaries. Sri Lanka ‘A’ resuming from their overnight score of 164/5 lost overnight batsman Ishan Jayarathne early on day 4. Sri Lanka ‘A’ made the English bowlers work hard for their wickets as Madawa Warnapura and Roshane Silva defied the England Lions victory when the pair put on a 113 runs partnership for the 8th wicket before the centurion Madawa Warnapura was dismissed by Liam Plunkett.
After the long standing partnership was broken, England Lions bowlers finished off the tail to record a robust 167 runs win. Right handed batsman from Colts CC, Roshen Silva remained unbeaten on 63. Liam Plunkett was the pick of the bowlers taking 3 wickets while off spinner Moeen Ali captured two wickets for the visitors.
Day 1 Report :
Sri Lanka ‘A’ skipper Upul Tharanga won the toss and opted to field first to gain the early morning advantage on a true batting surface. Ishan Jayaratne struck gold when he trapped Alex Lees right in front of his stumps when England Lions had put only 16 runs on the score board. After the early blow, England Lions middle order anchored the innings as Varun Chopra, James Taylor and Moeen Ali made half centuries to put the foundation to a big score. Varun Chopra made 58 runs in 68 balls with 7 elegant boundaries before he was clean bowled by Tharindu Kaushal. James Taylor was then joined by Moeen Ali for the 4th wicket and the pair put on 96 runs before the aggressive Moeen Ali made his way back to the pavilion.
Ali’s dismissal triggered the England Lions batting collapse as the final session belonged to the hard working Sri Lanka ‘A’ bowlers as they ended the day on a high taking 9 wickets. Test player Jonny Bairstow and skipper Christ Woakes was sent back packing by the experienced Dhammika Prasad. Two spinners , Tharindu Kaushal and Chathuranga De Silva shared 5 scalps between them as England Lions were 299/9 in 86 overs at close of play.
Day 2 Report :
England Lions resumed their 1st innings from their overnight score of 299/9. Last pair of Graham Onions and Tymal Mills added another 31 runs before Dhammika Prasad took the final wicket. Sri Lanka ‘A’ team got off to a disastrous start when England test discard, Chris Woakes took the wickets of Udara Jayasundara and Bhanuka Rajapakshe in the first over and soon made Sri Lanka ‘A’ batsman toil hard for their runs as England Lions fast bowlers displayed a classic show of accurate seam bowling to restrict the hosts to 61/7.
All rounder Chathuranga De Silva and Fast bowler Dhammika Prasad gave some respect to the home team total as the pair put on a fighting 64 runs for the 8th wicket. Dhammika Prasad steered the team total to 171 with a counter attacking half century as he was the last batsman to dismiss. Skipper Chris Woakes was the pick of the bowlers taking 4 wickets for 45 runs while off spinner Moeen Ali took 2 wickets.
England Lions started their 2nd innings with a 159 runs lead. Openers put on a patient 40 runs for the 1st wicket before the effective spin duo of Tharindu Kaushal and Chathuranga De Silva managed to give their team a chance of redemption as they took 4 wickets between them to end the day’s play as England Lions sitting pretty with a lead of 264 with two more days to go.
Day 3 Report :
England Lions resumed day’s proceedings from their overnight score of 105/4. Moeen Ali failed to add to his overnight score as he was caught behind by Niroshan Dickwella off a Dhammika Prasad delivery. England Lions were on a spot of bother when Liam Plunkett and Jonny Bairstow was dismissed on the first hour of play as the Lankan bowlers restricted the visitors to 164/7. Skipper Chris Woakes and Leg spinning all rounder Scott Borthwick combined well to put up an impressive 155 runs stand for the 8th wicket as both players had no terror from the Sri Lankan bowlers. Scott Borthwick was dismissed when he was 64 and Chris Woakes who was not out on 92 runs immediately declared the innings without caring about his century as team’s victory was more important. Sri Lankan spinners were the pick of the bowlers as Chathuranga De Silva and Tharindu Kaushal shared 3 wickets apiece.
Sri Lanka ‘A’ started their 2nd innings with a daunting target of 479 runs to achieve in 4 sessions. England Lions new ball pair of Chris Woakes and Graham Onions struck early as Sri Lanka ‘A’ openers, Upul Tharanga and Udara Jayasundara were sent back in the first two overs.
Sri Lanka ‘A’ middle order battled hard to survive as the stellar bowling unit of England Lions chipped in to restrict the hosts to 164/5 in 41 overs at the close of 3rd day’s play. In-form all rounder Chathuranga De Silva made 43 runs while number 4 batsman Madawa Warnapura remained unbeaten on 49 runs together with Ishan Jayaratne who hurried onto 21 runs. Inspiring captain Chris Woakes took 2 scalps for the visitors.
