Sri Lanka v England Day One: Missed chances for the tourists

Test previews / Ed Hawkins / 26 March 2012 /

" class="free_bet_btn" rel="external" onclick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/G4/inline-freebet');" target="_blank">

A class apart. On a day where no-one else passed 50, Mahela Jayawardene made batting look easy.

"There are other reasons why England, who are [3.35], will feel disappointed, though. They dropped four catches – before the series they had spoken of the importance of taking chances when they came their way – and they have still not come up with a plan for removing Mahela Jayawardene cheaply."

Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene was, not for the first time, the thorn in England's side as the hosts moved on to 289/8. It will mostly be trial by spin when England bat tomorrow but how will they cope?

One of England's age-old problems in the Asian sub-continent has been taking 20 wickets on flat, bland surfaces. But there would appear to be no fear on that score after they restricted Sri Lanka to 289 for eight, having made impressive inroads on day one of the first Test in Galle.

In truth, there was no such worry in the UAE when they were whitewashed by Pakistan. The failing in that series came with the bat. That is why England will not be feeling too confident despite a scorecard which James Anderson, who took three for 56, described as one which "we'd have taken at the start of the day".

There are other reasons why England, who are [3.35], will feel disappointed, though. They dropped four catches - before the series they had spoken of the importance of taking chances when they came their way - and they have still not come up with a plan for removing Mahela Jayawardene cheaply.

Harsh? Well, it's not as if they've not had the opportunity to have a good, long look at his technique. Following his unbeaten 168, he has now scored 1,852 runs against England, comfortably making them his favourite side to bat against.

This is tongue in cheek, of course. Before the series it was noted that England would struggle to remove the holy trinity of Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Jayawardene quickly. One of them will always get you in the end.

This is likely to be a consistent trend throughout the series. Otherwise, there was little to learn on day one. Monty Panesar, a welcome addition to the side for his craft with the ball, still can't field (he dropped two of the catches to go down) while the claims of the demise of Graeme Swann are premature. England followers always need someone to gripe at. At the moment it is Swann and Ian Bell.

The pitch has sign of wear and tear, which is a surprise given the curator was adamant that the Test would last five days. That looks unlikely following England's display and the puffs of dust which are appearing.

When it is England's turn to bat, the psychological scars of Dubai and Abu Dhabi may still be visible. Rangana Herath and Suraj Randiv, the spinners, will hope to expose them once again. To that end it may pay to get against England to post more than 350 at around [2.60].

The average score in the second innings at Galle is just 264 in the last ten Tests and that statistic, coupled with England's weakness in these conditions and the crumbling nature of the surface, might make it a decent wager.

By the way, those who are up early for the resumption tomorrow morning should expect England to hurry out Sri Lanka, including Jayawardene, who admitted to feeling mentally and physically weary. It is difficult for a batsman to re-focus after such a mammoth effort the previous day and England could find themselves in before too long: and then we will
really start to analyse how this series is going to play out. Sri Lanka are [2.72] and the draw is [2.96].

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>