Sri Lanka finished their warm-up tour game on top despite Rob Keogh ‘s determined century keeping the visitors at bay as the four-day tour game ended without a decision at Northampton.
Sri Lankan batsmen and bowlers warmed up efficiently to face the English music in the two match test series which starts on Thursday. Visitors batting 1st piled up 558 runs for the loss of 8 wickets with Kaushal Silva and Lahiru Thirimanne displaying sublime form. Thirimanne captaining the Sri Lanka team for this match in the absence of the rested Angelo Mathews, top-scored with a career-best 156 after being dropped first ball and opener Kaushal Silva stroked 152 before retiring hurt overnight on day 1.
Dinesh Chandimal scored a breezy 47 runs but was not guaranteed of a place in the final XI for the 1st test match while Dilruwan Perera provided the impetus for his selection as he made 59 runs in 70 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes. Dilruwan fortified his test claims with the ball as well capturing 4 wickets conceding 92 runs in his 31 over spell in the Northamptonshire innings which was revolved around a sparkling century by Rob Keogh. James Kettleborough disappointed his fans as he made a golden duck, lbw to left-armer Chanaka Welegedara. Dangerous Richard Levi announced himself with a flurry of boundaries in his 66 balls knock of 64 which contained 10 boundaries. David Willey made 48 runs, including three fours and two sixes before he was stumped by Prasanna Jayawardene off Dilruwan Perera’s bowling.
Rob Keogh came to the crease when his team had lost three important wickets and Rob batted for over five hours facing 201 deliveries in his brave knock of 120 which was involved in a last-wicket stand of 64. Dhammika Prasad, whose last Test appearance came at the start of 2013, took 4 wickets for 68 runs in a lively spell of fast bowling. Rain washed out the third day’s play and it was a costly miss for Sri Lanka.
Although Sri Lanka was leading by a mammoth 213 on first innings, the visiting T20 champions did not enforce the follow-on as they needed more batting practices for their players. Dimuth Karunarathne found an able opening partner in Dinesh Chandimal for the 2nd inning. The former Sri Lanka T20 skipper made just eight when he chipped and lost his wicket to left-arm seamer David Willey. Dimuth Karunarathne and Kumar Sangakkara batted with patience in their 75 run partnership for the 2nd wicket.
Dimuth Karunarathne and Mahela Jayawardene lost composure and gave away their wickets in successive overs as Lankans were restricted to 90 runs for 3 wickets as Mahela failed to score any digit. Sangakkara continued his merry run in England as he cruised to 45 runs with ease before Greame White got the better of the Sri Lankan batting legend. The game ended without a result when both teams talked to each other and finished the game early after Sri Lanka declared their innings.
Lahiru Thirimanne was confident after his team’s performance in the upcoming test series – “Confidence levels are really high. We haven’t had much luck in the past; we want to win a Test series here so that is the main concern. Boys are really confident.”
Chief Scores:
Sri Lanka – 558/8 declared in 138 overs : Kaushal Silva 152, Lahiru Thirimanne 156, Dilruwan Perera 59, Dinesh Chandimal 47, Kumar Sangakkara 28, Mahela Jayawardene 46, Steven Crook 3/98, Rob Keogh 2/46.
Northamptonshire – 345 all out in 87.1 overs : Rob Keogh 120, Richard Levi 64, David Willey 48, Dhammika Prasad 4/68, Dilruwan Perera 4/92.
Sri Lanka (2nd inn) – 99/4 in 31 overs : Kumar Sangakkara 45, Dimuth Karunarathne 38, Greame White 2/28.
