Touring Sri Lanka suffered a major upset against Essex as the hosts won their rain-affected match by 22 runs (D/L method) at Chelmsford.
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bowl but only managed to get two overs in, at a cost of three runs, before rain interrupted play for over five hours.
After bad weather cut the 50 overs match short to 21 overs per side, England skipper Alastair Cook notched 71 runs off just 49 balls, including two sixes and four fours, while wicket keeper batsman Ben Foakes also hit 51 as Essex reached 161 for the loss of 5 wickets. Lankan seam bowlers led by Suranga Lakmal struck early as they removed three top order batsmen for 21 runs in the 7th over.
Foakes combined with Cook steadied the ship as they put on an 82 run partnership before the 21-year-old was dismissed by Tillakaratne Dilshan for 51 off 31 balls. Cook was finally dismissed by Dhammika Prasad in the 20th over but James Foster (12*) and Tom Westley (16*) provided the late blitz for the home team to reach their final score of 161. Lakmal finished with 2 wickets for 21 and Prasad justified his last minute call-up to the ODI squad with 2 scalps for 30.
Sri Lanka’s pursuit of 169 in 21 overs (D/L method) got off to a disastrous start as Oliver Newby took the wickets of dashing opening batsman Kusal Perera lbw for four in the 1st over and seasoned campaigner Mahela Jayawardene who was caught by Foakes for six, to leave Sri Lanka on 31 for 2 in the 5th over. Left arm spinner Monty Panesar clean bowled TM Dilshan for 22 and Gregory Smith removed Sri Lankan vice-captain Lahiru Thirimanne for just 5 runs to leave Sri Lanka struggling on 44 with 4 batsmen back in the pavilion in the 9th over.
Unlike Essex, Sri Lankans were not able to launch an effective counter-attack, despite a promising knock by Dinesh Chandimal, whose 31 took him 25 deliveries. Skipper Angelo Mathews (19), Thisara Perera (13), Ashan Priyanjan (10) and Chaturanga de Silva (20 including two mighty sixes in the final over) all hit out in a bid to keep up with the required run-rate but they eventually closed well short of their target as Sri Lanka ended on 146 for 9 in 21 overs. Essex won the game by 22 runs according to the Duckworth-Lewis method to condemn the tourists to defeat in their first match on English soil this summer.
The tourists will play two more warm-up games against Kent (16th May – 50 overs) and Sussex (18th May – 20 overs) before meeting England in the only Twenty20 international at The Oval on 20 May.
