England v Sri Lanka at Old Trafford 1st Test August 21-25

Neil Whitaker reports

Day 1

MILAN Rathnayake hit 72 on his Test debut batting at number nine and landed himself in  the record books.

He  brutally smashed Joe Root  over long-off for his second six to take him to the highest score made by a player batting at nine or lower on Test  debut  at Emirates Old Trafford beating the 64 made by Darren Gough in 1994 against New Zealand.

Rathnayake thumped Shoaib Basher over mid-on for a couple to bring up the 50  partnership with Vishwa Fernando who made only seven   of them. Two balls later he tried repeating the shot but holed out to Chris  Woakes at mid-on.

When he came into bat the omens didn’t look good for Rathnayake to trouble the scorers but he did. He  brought  up his 50 in the grand style when he launched Shoaib Basger  over long-on for a six and became the first Sri Lanka player to  hit 50 on his Test debut batting at number nine or lower. 

He said: “I had a sleepless night last night when I was told I was playing, I feel very proud  to play for Sri Lanka. I’ve been in the Test squad for a long time so I’ve watched the experienced players play and hope I’ve learnt a lot from them.  The captain told me to stay there and support him.  The pitch was uneven with some balls keeping low so I batted according to the situation and left a lot of balls.  The bowlers moved the ball both ways.”

Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya De Silva hit his 15th Test 50, top scored with 74  after his side made a disastrous start to the opening Rothesay Test match.De Silva won the toss and decided to bat on an overcast morning with an autumnal feel and watched his side make their worst start and  the second worst start in Test matches by a side batting first by losing three wickets with the score on six. They  lost their first wicket in the sixth over when Dimuth Karunaratne tried to pull a short ball from Gus  Atkinson but got a thick edge to Jamie Smith.  

Without adding to the score Sri Lanka lost two  two wickets.  First  Nishan  Madushka edged a wide delivery from Woakes and Root at first slip took a comfortable catch, three balls later Angelo  Mathews left one that  nipped back and was given out.  Mathews reviewed it and the replay showed it to be hitting.  Woakes said: “He’s a very good player so it was nice to see the back of him and to see the ball come back as it did because I didn’t expect it.”

Under the circumstances it wasn’t surprising that Sri Lanka didn’t hit a boundary for 50 minutes and then Kusal Mendis hit two consecutive fours off Matty Potts.  Then the  destroyer of the West Indies Mark Wood was brought into the attack after 13 overs and his first ball was a fast short  ball at 94.8mph which put Kusal Mendis on the floor after he had ducked  under it.  But in  Wood’s next over Kusal Mendis was back in the hutch. He gloved a vicious short ball from Wood which he couldn’t afford and the ball flew to Harry  Brook at second slip.

Dinesh Chandimal was leg before to Shoaib Basher to one that kept extremely low for 10 minutes before lunch on the first day. Chandimal reviewed it in hope more than expectation but Chandimal had no chance. 

After he was hit for a four by Mendis, Woakes found the edge off his bat with a scrambled seam and Smith took his second catch.  De Silva must have wished that if his side stood any chance posting a big score he needed both Chandimal and Mendis to stick there and make big scores but it wasn’t to be there it was De Silva  and debutante Rathnayake who gave their bowlers something to defend.

De Silva drove Woakes off his back foot to the cover boundary to bring up the Sri Lankan hundred which at one stage looked out of their reach.  As his innings continued he looked like he wouldn’t look out place batting with his namesake Arvinda and Mahela Jayawardene, he  late cut Shoaib Basher to the backward point boundary.

He reached  his 15th Test 50 from 56 balls with five fours and it was his second fastest Test 50.  De Silva slog/swept Shoaib Basher to the mid-wicket boundary.  He went down the pitch to the next ball and lofted him over mid-on for another boundary.  De Silva tried to do the same to the next ball but missed the ball but fortunately for him Smith   couldn’t gather the ball.

With that piece of good fortune a hundred looked on the cards for the  Sri Lankan captain but it wasn’t to be. After adding 62 with Milan Rathnayake, he glanced Shoaib Basher to Dan Lawrence at leg slip.

Prabath Jayasuriya got off the mark when he lofted Atkinson over the slips to the third man boundary. Faced with a field set for short bowling Jayasuriya gloved a short ball from Atkinson, the ball looped to Root at gully and Jayasuriya was on his back to the hutch but he was called back because Atkinson had bowled three short balls in the over.  His reprieve was short lived. Two balls later he drove  Atkinson but didn’t move his front foot and he edged it to Smith.

The innings was over when Vishwa Fernando turned Root to mid-wicket and set for a single but was sent back by Asitha Fernando but Vishwa Fernando couldn’t beat Pope’s throw to Smith.

With the lights on De Silva opened his own off spinner and the left arm spin of Jayasuriya, the first time in a Test match in England that two spinners have taken the new ball.

Woakes said: “We are really happy, to bowl them out on the first day of a Test match we would have taken that at the start of the day.  At Emirates Old Trafford days two and three are usually the best days to bat on.

I thought Ollie Pope was louder than he usually is and he had  more to think about than he usually does. He  communicated well with the bowlers and did  a great job.”

Before play started a minute’s applause was held in the memory of Graham Thorpe and James Anderson rang the five minute bell at his end.

Day 2

THE second day of the Rothesay  1st Test match  turned out to be the most intriguing day of the Test summer with over 200 runs scored, six wickets taken and two batsmen hitting 50’s.

England’s fielding coach Marcus Trescothick said: “We’re in a good position, with a couple of partnerships and a couple of 50’s.  We had to work hard and we’re pleased to be ahead of their total with four wickets left.”

Harry Brook  hit his 14th Test 50 in his 25 Test innings and he brought it up when he drove Vishwa Fernando through extra cover for three. He  shared in a fourth wicket partnership of 58 with Yorkshire teammate Joe Root.  It was their  8th 50 partnership and it came from 58 balls even though they didn’t look to be going at a fast speed. Brook punched Milan Rathnayake straight for his first boundary. Three balls later Root followed that straight drive with an even better drive.  The partnership was broken when Root edged a drive off Aasitha Fernando whe he he bowled in the corrodor of uncertainty and Dinesh Chandimal took a low catch inches off the ground end he leapt forward.  Both umpires were uncertain and sent it the TV umpire who said It was a fair catch.

With seven fielders on the offside Brook had to drive Rathnayake straight to the James Anderson boundary.  He effortlessly drove Vishwa Fernando for another straight boundary.

Brook was bowled in the third over after tea by left arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya with one the pitched on leg and middle and hit the top of off stump.  Brook was bewildered by what it had happened.  His 56 came from 73 balls and included four fours.  With Jamie Smith he added 62 in 14 overs.

Smith went on to make his his third Test 50 in his fourth Test match when he drilled Jayasuriya to long-off for a single. His 50 came from 81 balls and included only three fours.  He drove Kamindu Mendis to the long-off boundary to take England into the lead.  Earlier Smith took a couple of paces down the pitch to Jayasuriya and planted him over long-on for a huge six. With Chris  Woakes the pair added 52 before Jayasuriya got his second wicket when he bowled Woakes with another one that turned to leave Woakes as bewildered as Brook was.

Trescothick added: “We knew that Smith was a talented player  and he has taken to international cricket nicely as have the others.  He seams suited for international  cricket.”

Play on the second day didn’t get underway until 1.15 after morning rain had washed out the morning session. Sri Lanka thought they had got rid of Dan  Lawrence in the third over when he played around a delivery from Asitha  Fernando,  Lawrence reviewed it and the replay showed it to be missing.  

Two balls later Ben Duckett tried to work Asitha  Fernando to leg and was wrapped on his pads.  The Sri Lankan’s appeal was turned down by umpire Paul Reiffel but the Sri Lankan’s reviewed it  and the replay showed it to be hitting. Asitha Fernando got his second wicket in his next over when he beat Ollie Pope for pace with one that came back at him.

Sri Lanka’s fast bowling coach Aquib Javid said: “Not many people know about  Asitha’s ability without moving his wrist so he can swing the ball both ways.  I said to him ‘If you can find the right spot you will be very challenging’.  He is a very mature bowler. 

When you play England their scoring rate is a challenge so you have to counter attack them to keep them quiet.”

Vishwa Fernando swapped ends to the James Anderson end and got a wicket with his third ball. The left arm seamer angled the ball across Lawrence who followed it and gave stumper Chandimal an easy catch.


Day 3

SURREY’S Jamie Smith  hit his first Test century when he clipped  Milan Rathnayake off his legs for a couple.  

His century came from 136 balls  and included one six and seven fours.  He hit another four before he cut a lose ball from Prabath  Jayasuriya with the new ball two balls away   and Dinesh Chandimal took his third catch of the innings.

Play got underway on the third day  time despite a lot of rain through the night and Smith quickly hit three boundaries off the two Fernando’s.  Two off Asitha and one off Vishwa.  He flicked  Rathnayake off his legs for a couple to take him to 97.  He wanted to reach his century with a four or six  because  he went down the pitch to Jayasuria but the ball got big on him and he had to settle for a single.

Smith said: “It felt good  to get a hundred but it’s more important to put runs on the board for the team.  I felt relaxed because I feel that I’ve been playing really well in the last  few weeks but I know there are going to be ups  and downs..  I feel that I’ve experienced a lot in my career so far but I am always up for a challenge.” 

Ian Bell, Sri Lanka’s batting coach said: “I think that Smith is going to be a fantastic player for England.  This morning we weren’t at our best but full credit to him and hopefully one of our players will get a century tomorrow to  put the pressure on England.  Our lads are desperate to show to people how it feels to play for Sri Lanka and hopefully to wear a few bruises.”

The last England wicket keeper to hit a century at Emirates Old Trafford was Smith’s Surrey teammate Ben Foakes against South Africa two years ago.

With Surrey teammate Gus Atkinson they added 66 in 19 overs but in 14 Atkinson had a slice of luck when he got a thick outside edge to Jayasuria and the ball flew past slip for three. Their partnership  was broken when Atkinson glanced  Rathnayake to stumper  Chandimal. The Sri Lankans were sure that Rathnayake had got his first Test wicket  but umpire Reiffel wasn’t sure it had carried but the replay showed it had. 

Mark Wood quickly hit three ugly fours and hit an uglier six when he pulled Asitha. Fernando into the party stand where he was caught by a member if the crowd one-handed.  Wood had a big swing at Asitha Fernando, missed the ball and was comprehensively bowled.

After he was hit for a  four by Matty Potts, Vishwa Fernando bowled him a short ball which Potts pulled and Kamindu Mendis took a low catch running in from the mid-wicket boundary and diving forward to give Vishwa. Fernando his second wicket.  Asitha  Fernando finished with four for 103 and Jayasuriya took three for 85. 

Sri Lanka  had 12 minutes to bat for lunch but in those 12 minutes  they lost two wickets for one run in two overs.  Nilshan Madushka shouldered arms to the third ball from Woakes and was bowled.  In the next over Kusal Mendis edged a drive off Atkinson and Smith took an easy catch.

In the second over after lunch England went up fir a leg before appeal against Dimuth Karunaratne but umpire Chris Gaffney turned the appeal.  England reviewed it and the replay showed it to be missing.

As in the Sri Lankan first Innings Wood wasn’t brought into the attack  until the 14th over and he struck with his first ball. Dimuth Karunaratne got a faint inside edge on to his hip and the ball ballooned to Harry  Brook at second slip.  Umpire’s Reifell’s finger didn’t go up straight away but when it did   Karunaratne had a word with Angelo Mathews and then he was off back to the hutch.

Mathews so often the scourge of England in the past was at again despite his failure in the first innings when facing Woakes he  kept moving out of his crease to combat Woakes’ swing.

The veteran Mathews, who in the field had to chase the ball a lot, couldn’t have a rest when he was batting as he had to run twos and threes. Mathews clipped Wood for a couple through mid-wicket to bring up his 42nd Test 50 from 86 balls with one six and one four. 

England got the ball changed and they started to make the ball do a lot.   Catches were dropped, they dried the runs up,  batters were given out leg before but the replays showed they had got inside edges.   On 65 Mathews flashed at Potts and Joe Root at slip moving to his left dropped a sitter.  In the  last 20 minutes of his innings Mathews played and missed a few times and couldn’t get the ball so it was inevitable that England would get him out and they did when he got a leading edge to Woakes and Potts at backward point took the catch.

On the change of ball, Bell added: “We tried to get a ball change but the umpires didn’t agree but in England you expect to get the ball changed. But I must admit the seam did look pretty awful so we have to accept the umpires decision.  I thought that England put the ball in the right areas.”

Sri Lanka looked to Mathews and Chandimal to take them into lead but their partnership was broken in the most unfortunate way when Chandimal retired hurt on 10, with  the score on 74 for three, after he was hit on his right hand from a shirt of a length ball that nipped back at home from Wood and was replaced by his captain Dhananjaya De Silva.

De Silva took a couple of paces down the pitch to  Shoaib Bashir and hit him straight back over his head for a one bounce four.  He tried to pull a short ball from Potts but the ball didn’t bounce as much as he expected and was hit on the pads. Umpire Reiffel upheld England’s appeal in a flash and De Silva reviewed it. The replay showed it to be hitting.

Kamindu Mendis hooked Wood over fine leg for a big six and he took Sri Lanka into the lead when he cut Shoaib Bashir for a couple.  On 16 England thought they had him  leg before but umpire Reifell didn’t respond so England reviewed it.  Third umpire Joel Wilson ruled that Smith’s gloves were not wholly behind the stumps.

Smith said: “I didn’t know that was the law but I do now, but we didn’t lose anything because it was umpires call.”

Kamidu Mendis  pulled Wood to the mid-wicket boundary to reach his fifth Test 50 from 95 balls with six fours and a six.

In Potts’ next over after Mathews was dropped, Potts had  Kamindu Mendis dropped by Atkinson at backward point on 35.  He was given out leg before to Woakes to one that came back at him.  Umpire Chris  Gaffney gave him out straight away but  Mendis reviewed it and somehow he got an inside edge on it.

After his 72 in the first innings, Rathnayake was promoted up the order.  Before he had scored he was given out leg before but he reviewed it and the replay showed he had hit an inside edge.  In the next over he  crunched Wood to the cover boundary.

After two failed attempts to bowl his third ball of his over Wood left the field and was replaced in the attack by Root who got a wicket with his second ball when Rathnayake skied him  to  Ben Duckett at mid-off.

Rathnayake was replaced by Chandimal who was unbeaten on 20 at the close , while Kamindu Mendis was undefeated on 56 with a lead of 82.

Day 4 

JOE Root’s unbeaten 62 guided England to a five wicket victory over Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford to take a 1-0 lead in the Rothesay Men’s Test series.

It wasn’t Bazball, England had to graft to get their target of 205 and Jamie Smith’s innings of 39  kick started England’s chase. First he swept Prabath  Jayasuriya to the fine leg boundary. It was England’s first boundary for an hour and guess what, he drilled the next ball to the long-off boundary.  He launched Jayasuriya for  a six over the mid-wicket boundary to take England’s target down to 40.  With victory within touching distance he played across the line to Asitha Fernando and was yorked.

England’s captain Ollie Pope said: “ I think that the way we won this game shows that we are not a one dimensional team. Sometimes it’s not about scoring fast it’s about getting the job done.The conditions of the pitch made it feel like a subcontinent pitch and Root used his experience there to  get us over the line.  The pitch was a new ball pitch and once the ball got past 20 overs it was really hard to get wickets.  So we had to find ways to get 20 wickets.

I thought Smith played really well.”

When England  started their second innings it was like the Bazball we have grown accustomed to in the past couple of years. Defending 204 Vishwa Fernando’s first over was a disaster.  His second ball went for five wides and four singles came from the rest of the over.

Sri Lanka thought they had an early wicket when Ben Duckett edged Asitha Fernando off his legs and Kusal Mendis(stumper for Dinesh Chandimal) dove to his left and took the ball one-handed but the back of his glove was facing the sky and TV umpire Joel Wilson ruled the ball had touched the ground.

Fellow opener Dan Lawrence launched Jayasuriya for a six over long-on in the fifth over. England lost their first wicket  when Asitha Fernando after bowling straight balls to Duckett, he  got one to leave him and Duckett edged it and Kusal Mendis took a good low catch.

Jayasuriya got a wicket when he went around  the wicket to  Ollie Pope who toe ended a  reversed sweep to Sri Lanka’s  captain Dhananjaya De Silva at point.

Sri Lanka got their third wicket when Lawrence was given out leg before by umpire Chris Gaffaney but Lawrence thought it was high and reviewed it.  The replay showed it to be clipping and Lawrence was on his way back to the hutch in silence.

They lost a review when they reviewed a leg before appeal against Root but the replay showed he had got a faint edge with the bat.

On six Harry Brook swept Jayasuriya to substitute Ramesh Mendis at backward square leg who dove to his right and got a hand to it but it wouldn’t stick if it had it would have been a fantastic catch.

He made another five when Asitha Fernando was convinced that Brook had edged through to Kusal Mendis and reviewed it.  The replay showed that Brook’s bat was close to it but there wasn’t a spike and Sri Lanka lost their second review.

Brook swept Jayasuriya for three to bring up England’s  hundred. He took a pace down the pitch to Vishwa Fernando and lofted him to the extra cover boundary.  After getting the target down to 86 and adding 49 in 19 overs  Brook gave Jayasuriya a low return catch.  The umpire’s reviewed it  and the TV umpire Wilson has said it was a fair catch.

Chris Woakes nearly gave the England fans a heart attack when he blasted Asitha Fernando just wide of the diving De Silva on its way to the long-on boundary.  At 7.16 Root went down the pitch to Jayasuriya to hit the winning boundary.

England were without Mark Wood who left the field before the close of play  on day three with a leg injury and it turned out to be a thigh injury and Sri Lanka blossomed in his absence.

Kamindu Mendis  hit his third Test century in his fourth Test match when he cut Woakes to the third man boundary with the third delivery with the new ball

His hundred came from172 balls  with 12 fours and a six.

Both Kamindu Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal showed Sri Lanka’s intent to press on by scoring 25 in the first 30 minutes and 35 in the next 30 minutes.  Kamindu Mendis opened his account on the fourth day when he cut Woakes to the cover boundary in the first over.  He hit consecutive fours off Gus Atkinson: the first through extra  cover and he pulled the next ball to the fine leg boundary and brought up the 50 partnership with Chandimal.

Chandimal, on 23, chipped a leading edge just wide of Woakes’ right hand as he followed through.   He brought his fifty up when he dabbed Shoaib Bashir out on the offside and pinched a quick single.  His   27th Test 50 such came from 73 balls with four fours. He drove Shoaib Bashir though mid-off for three to take Sri Lanka’s lead past 150.

 Chandimal said: “I thought we fought back well after losing those early wickets on the first day and we were about 40 to 50 runs short.  I thought our tailenders contributed well.  We’ve only had one match to get used to the conditions so we’ve done well.

I think Kamindu Mendis is a world class player.  It is his first tour to England and he's hit a century in his first Test match.  It took me two tours to hit a century in England. He has a positive mindset and I think that if he can play County cricket here it will be really good for him.

Hopefully I might be back for the next Test match.”

Rain stopped play at 12.33 and play resumed at 12.55 after lunch the ground was bathed in sunshine and the sunshine brought a wicket for England in the fourth over after lunch.  Atkinson bowled  around the wicket to Kamindu Mendis who fenced at a short ball and Root at first slip took a low catch.  He faced another 11 balls after reaching his century and hit another four.

Jayasuriya edged a big drive off Matty Potts and the ball flew to Brook who couldn’t take the catch at the first attempt  but he knocked the ball up and he caught the ball behind him.  Woakes squared Vishwa Fernando up,who ended up playing French cricket and was plumb leg before for a duck.

In the next over with nothing to lose Chandimal sliced a big swing off Potts to substitute Harry  Singh from Lancashire on the cover boundary. Sri Lanka who hadn’t lost a wicket for 132 minutes lost  their last four in 23  minutes in 26 balls.

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