A well made 142 by Sam Robson resulted in England Lions taking control of proceedings against Sri Lanka ‘A’ at the end of 2nd day’s play in their second unofficial test match at Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium today.
Resuming from the overnight score of 281/9, Lahiru Gamage and Vishwa Fernando were able to add only 8 runs to the total as the Sri Lankan 1st innings score was restricted to 289 by the English bowlers. Roshen Silva and Bhanuka Rajapaksa spearheaded the hosts with 73 and 68 runs respectively while Graham Onions was the pick of the bowlers for England with 4 for 24.
It was not the perfect start for the England Lions as Lahiru Gamage took early measures to remove Alex Lees. He was caught by Niroshan Dickwella for 11 runs. But Sam Robson and Varun Chopra together put on a 71 run partnership, taking the visitors to a comfortable position. However England Lions were in a spot of bother when Gamage’s second strike sent Chopra back to the dressing room for 28 runs, this time too caught by the wicketkeeper Dickwella.
Later Sam Robson was joined by James Taylor to build a commanding partnership of 197 runs to take control of the game. The fine partnership took the England Lions’ total to 283 but spinner Tharindu Kaushal stepped up to put an end to it by grabbing Robson’s wicket. The new batsman Ollie Rayner did not survive for long as Kaushal removed him in his following over.
At the close of day 2, James Taylor stood not out at 99 along with Johnny Bairstow who is yet to open his account.
Play will resume tomorrow at 10am local time.
Scores in brief –
Sri Lanka ‘A’ – 289 all out in 92.2 overs : Roshen Silva 73, Bhanuka Rajapaksa 68, Dimuth Karunaratne 37; Graham Onions 4 for 24, Liam Plunkett 2 for 37, Scott Borthwick 2 for 61.
England Lions – 291/4 (85 overs) Sam Robson 142, James Taylor 99*; Tharindu Kaushal 2 for 53, Lahiru Gamage 2 for 59.
