Story Sri Lanka's road to 2009 [ICC06] 2nd Test: Sri Lanka win by 287 runs (SRL lead 2-0)

[Hamish]

Scientists have discovered a horrific mammoth bug (named ICC 2006) hibernating in the earth's crust. It has been predicted that it will wake in the transistion of the 2008/09 cricket season and go on a rampage, eating every human in existence, resulting in the death of cricket.

The bug's unique outer shell is so strong, making it indestructible, and any weapon powerful enough to kill would end up destroying Earth. Scientists proposed patching ICC 2006's brain during hibernation, but it will only have a 1% success rate, meaning all humans are basically gone by 2008/09.

In a bold statement, made by Sri Lankan coach Tom Moody, and other international coaches, they have all vowed to take their teams to the top in the time that is left.

Tom Moody said,

"This is terrible news. I can only promise the Sri Lankan fans that we will fight to the death, and along the way, I will give the youngsters a chance, as they will only get a glimpse of international cricket before it's too late."

Sri Lanka's first tour is that of England, a tough task, as shown by the recent Ashes.

Tour Itinerary - Sky Sports will not cover Warm-up or Friendly games as they are plain boring, but will provide scores

Combined Univ vs Sri Lankans - 3-Day Warm Up - 24-26 April

Derbyshire vs Sri Lankans - 3-Day Warm Up - 29-31 April

Durham vs Sri Lankans - 3-Day Warm Up - 4-6 May

England vs Sri Lanka - 1st Test - 11-15 May

Sussex vs Sri Lankans - 3-Day Warm Up - 18-22 May

England vs Sri Lanka - 2nd Test - 25-29 May

England vs Sri Lanka - 3rd Test - 2-6 June

Essex vs Sri Lankans - OD Friendly - 9 June

Somerset vs Sri Lankans - OD Friendly - 11 June

England vs Sri Lanka - Twenty/20 Int - 15 June

England vs Sri Lanka - 1st ODI - 17 June

England vs Sri Lanka - 2nd ODI - 20 June

England vs Sri Lanka - 3rd ODI - 24 June

England vs Sri Lanka - 4th ODI - 28 June

England vs Sri Lanka - 5th ODI - 1 July

Tour of England Squad (18): M Attapatu (c), M Jayawardene (vc), K Sangakkara (wk), S Jayasuriya, U Tharanga, T Samaraweera, T Dilshan, R Arnold, C Kapugedera, F Maharoof, C Vaas, M Muralitharan, N Kulasekera, M Bandara, R Perera, D Fernando, L Malinga, N Zoysa

Coverage begins soon...

 

[Simbazz]

Lol, very funny start, good luck

 

[Hamish]

Warm Up Games

Sri Lanka 503/7dec (Samaraweera 164no, Tharanga 160, Wise 137/4) defeated Combined Univ 313 (Quentin 101, Radley 73, Malinga 79/6) & 181 (Ford 66, Bandara 6/39, Samaraweera 3/32) by an innings and 2 runs

Sri Lanka 519/9dec (Jayawardene 100, Jayasuriya 92) drew with Derbyshire 255 (Adnan 69, Muralitharan 5/47) & 286/7 (Welch 79no, Muralitharan 3/59, Malinga 3/92) - Match Drawn

Sri Lanka 370 (Sangakkara 79, Jayasuriya 69, Plunkett 5/87) & 7/0 defeated Durham 116 (Vaas 5/29, Fernando 3/23) & 257 (Benkenstein 68, Vaas 5/51, Muralitharan 3/71) by 10 wickets

Coming Up Next, Sky Sports brings you Live and Uninterrupted Coverage of the 1st Test between England and Sri Lanka...

 

[Hamish]

1st Test: England vs Sri Lanka

Welcome to Lords, the home of cricket, for this 1st Test between England and Sri Lanka. A sunny day today, we are in for some delightful cricket. The pitch is rock hard, but dry. The pace bowlers will have to work hard, but the spinners will have a good time later in this test match.

England: 1. M Trescothick 2. A Strauss 3. K Pietersen 4. I Bell 5. M Vaughan (c) 6. A Flintoff 7. M Prior (wk) 8. A Giles 9. S Jones 10. S Harmison 11. M Hoggard

Sri Lanka: 1. S Jayasuriya 2. U Tharanga 3. M Attapatu (c) 4. M Jayawardene 5. K Sangakkara (wk) 6. T Samaraweera 7. T Dilshan 8. C Vaas 9. Dilhara Fernando 10. M Muralitharan 11. L Malinga

England have won the toss and elected to bat...

Day 1: Lunch: Lankan seamers rock England early on...

England, at Lunch on the 1st day, are in big trouble at 97/6. England never got off to a start, and what was a beautiful batting strip. Strauss struggled in only managing 2 runs of 12 balls, Vaas bowling Strauss for 2 with a ball that cut back sharply. Treschothick, at the other end, made a good start with 17, but Malinga forced a prod from the opener, a straight forward catch flying to Thilan Samaraweera. England started off poorly at 26/2.

Pietersen and Bell, the 2 new batsmen, had some work to do. Pietersen began ticking the scorboard, with Bell playing the anchor role. However, Vaas applied the pressure on Bell steadily, and as a result had Bell missing an inswinger, crashing into his front pad, Umpire Bucknor raising his finger straightaway, Bell out for 4. Pietersen continued his innings, but was short on support, captain Michael Vaughan heading back soon after making his way onto the pitch, when he edged Fernando to Jayawardene at slip for just 5.

The Sri Lankans never stopped celebrating, with Vaas striking again, when Pietersen (20) played a full blooded cover drive, only to edge a rather difficult chance to Jayawardene, the vice captain making the catch look easy. England sunk into further trouble, Fernando claiming his 2nd wicket, Jayawardene taking his 3rd catch when Prior was caught unawares by a bouncer on nought.

Flintoff, the hero of the Ashes, instilled hope in the English side, the allrounder currently not out on 40 from 69 balls, with 6 terrific boundaries to his name. England, at 97/6 after the 1st session, need Flintoff to lift them, along with Ashley Giles (5no).

Images: Vaas got Sri Lanka off to a flying start...

 

[Hamish]

1st Test: England vs Sri Lanka

Welcome back to Lords, with the players having just taken Lunch. England have made a poor start, at 97/6, thanks to the combined efforts of the Sri Lankan pace bowlers. The English hopes rest on Andrew Flintoff (40 not out) and Ashley Giles.

We now take you back to the action...

Day 1: Tea: Sri Lanka make shaky start after Fernando wraps up England...

Dilhara Fernando proved to be a deadly customer, as England's hopes of recovering took a downturn. Not long after the 2nd session begun, Ashley Giles mistimed a leg glance to a Fernando delivery, Samaraweera diving at short leg to dismiss Giles without having added to his score of 5. Andrew Flintoff, also failed to trouble the Sri Lankans, adding 10 runs to his score to reach a gritty 50, but was beaten for pace by Fernando, hawkeye suggesting the ball would have hit the top off, the lbw decision validated.

The tail-enders needed to give a magical performance, and Simon Jones and Steven Harmison almost did. In the 1st period of play where the bowlers became frustrated, Jones and Harmison added 66 runs in quick time, with a few chances missed by Lanka along the way. Harmison was the star of the partnership, blasting 40 runs off 51 balls, supported by 25 runs from Jones.

Fernando, however, finished off the innings with excellent figures of 6/46, when he bowled Harmison with a yorker, and found the edge of Simon Jones' bat, leaving Hoggard not out on nought. England were bowled out for a paltry 175 allout.

Sri Lanka went into bat, with 7 overs left till tea. Those 7 overs were used well by England, Simon Jones claiming the early wicket of opener Upul Tharanga, out for 8 when he missed a ripper of a delivery that struck middle and off. Captain Marvan Attapatu lasted just 4 balls to make 3 runs, getting out in the same fashion, except to the bowling of Harmison. Sanath Jayasuriya however remained oblivious to the situation, playing his trademark shots to reach 17 not out off just 19 deliveries at the end of the 2nd session, Jaywardene not out as well on 7.

At tea on the 1st day, Sri Lanka are 40/2 off 7 overs.

Images: Dilhara Fernando claimed superb figures of 6/46 to finish off the England innings...

 

[Hamish]

1st Test: England vs Sri Lanka

Welcome back to Lords for the last session of play on this 1st day. The pitch here has proved to be far different from predicted, aiding the bowlers rather than the batsmen. A shaky start by the visitors, can England do to Sri Lanka what Sri Lanka did to they them?

End of Day 1: Jayawardene guides Lanka to the safety of the end of day's play...

Resuming from where they left off at tea, Sanath Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardene added on vital runs, as the English bowlers looked to find another wicket. Jayasuriya played a relatively quiet innings compared to before tea, and he and Jayawardene forged a useful 67 run partnership. It was Andrew Flintoff who claimed the breakthrough, when one of his yorkers swung in to take out the offstump, with Jayasuriya heading back for 36.

After that wicket, the English bowlers had no luck as Mahela Jayawardene and wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara looked to stay in till the end of day's play. Jayawardene saw his way to a patient fifty, an unbeaten partnership of 46 when the umpires called stumps on Day 1.

Sri Lanka, at the close of play, were 132/3 off 40 overs, with Jaywardene (56no) and Sangakkara (24no) still at the crease.

Images: Jayawardene scored a fifty to take Sri Lanka to safety at the end of Day 1, to the frustration of the English bowlers...

 

[Hamish]

1st Test: England vs Sri Lanka

Welcome back to Lords for the 2nd day of this 1st test between England and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka have commanded the match so far, but after watching the England innings, anything could happen.

Day 2: Lunch: Jayawardene forced to wait for a century...

If the Sri Lankan's had the advantage yesterday, they were dictating terms today. It was a frustratig session of play for the English bowlers, as none of the bowlers seemed to trouble either Jayawardene or Sangakkara. The pair added on 101 runs to the overnight score of 132/3.

Jayawardene was given an early let off when Ashley Giles caught the batsman on the crease, the ball hitting the pads right in front of off. To the England's dismay, the umpire gave it "Not Out", and with the lbw looking as plumb as could be, you could ask was he even looking? Besides that first appeal, Jayawardene looked in great touch. Jayawardene favoured any bowling wide-off, crunching any deliveries that fitted that criteria with booming cover drives. But being the patient batsman that he is, he played each ball to its merits, but his innings featured most clever singles backward of poitn and to the leg side. He was supported well by Kumar Sangakkara, who reached his fifty in ease, the only chance he gave was when he edged wide of 3rd slip.

Jaywardene was remained on 99 for the remainder of the session, thanks to some tight bowling Hoggard and Ashley Giles, and remained 99 not out at Lunch. Jayawardene will have to think hard about that last run over half an hour. Kumar Sangakkara (78no) and Jayawardene (99no) remained unbeaten at lunch, the score 233/3, a good lead of 58 runs with 7 wickets in hand.

Images: Ashley Giles appeals, and the Umpire gives what could be the most controversial "Not Out" decision in history...

 

[James_W]

FINALLY an ICC story without all the stupidity of players signing up. Great start, Lanka are well on top!

 

[Hamish]

FINALLY an ICC story without all the stupidity of players signing up. Great start, Lanka are well on top!

Lol,thanks! There are quite alot of signup threads...

1st Test: England vs Sri Lanka

What a half hour wait it must have been for Mahela Jayawardene. He only needs a single to get to 100, but he must have thought about that single very hard. To tell you the truth, Jayawardene should have been out lbw to Giles, but it seemed that the Umpire got his decision horribly wrong, and ICC officials will surely review it. But what's done is done.

The players are now making their way onto the field, with all eyes on Jayawardene...

Day 2: Tea: Sri Lanka dominates after Sangakkara and Jayawardene hit tons...

Jayawardene did not have top wait long, with the 1st ball he faced flicked to the onside for the easiest of singles, the Sri Lankan batsman reaching his century. The pair managed to add on 64 runs to the score of 233/3, before Harmison claimed the breakthrough. Harmison bowled a good length ball from around the wicket, the sheer pace of the ball beating Jayawardene on 127 off 268 balls, the middle and off stump flying off their base.

England, still had a bad day, as they could claim no more wickets in the session. Kumar Sangakkara was the star of the session, reaching his 100 off 209 deliveries, and proceeded to accelerate from their, with Thilan Samaraweera at the other end ensuring that his wicket remained intact.

At Tea on Day 2, the score was 327/4, with Sangakkara on 128 not out of 254 balls and Samaraweera unbeaten on 13. Ashley Giles sported very economical figures of 0/83 of 32 overs, but unfortunately could not get any wickets.

Images: Sangakkara on his way to a delightful century...

 

[Hamish]

1st Test: England vs Sri Lanka

Welcome back to Lords, where Sri Lanka are commanding this test match. Sangakkara is not out on 128, and looks in great touch.

End of Day 2: Sangakkara falls short of 200...

As has been for the majority of this match, Sri Lanka were in charge yet again. Sangakkara, with new batsman Thilan Samaraweera, began piling on the runs right from the word "go". Kumar Sangakkara saw no limits, charging a Simon Jones yorker before it even left the bowler's hand, and lofted it over the cover boundary for 6. Simon Jones had the most expensive figures of the bowling attack, with an econmoy rate of over 4.

Samaraweera, who started off in his own defensive shell, opened up his batting repertoire with scintillating cover drives and nifty flicks to the leg side, taking his strike rate over a run every 2 balls. It didn't seem long before Sangakkara acknowledged his 150, and began to look to score 200 before stumps. After facing 343 balls and making 192, a 200 was well in sights, but in came Flintoff, bowling the keeper with an inswinger. Flintoff, 4 balls later, then sent back Dilshan for a duck, when a mistimed leg glance flew straight back to the bowler off the edge.

With Flintoff only bowling 8 overs, but with amazing figures of 3/19, many wondered why Vaughan did not give enough of the ball to the talented all-rounder.

Samaraweera (68 not out off 132) and Vaas (4 not out) saw themselves to stumps on Day 2, with the score at 458/6 off 137 overs.

Images: Flintoff will surely get more overs to bowl after claiming 3/19 off 8 overs, while the rest of the bowlers have failed with almost 3 or 4 times as many overs.

 

[usy]

lol thats what Pakistan Have done to england , lol, very realistic.

 

[Hamish]

lol thats what Pakistan Have done to england , lol, very realistic.

Thanks. Btw, I'll be using your Sky Sports theme from now on.

1st Test: England vs Sri Lanka

Welcome to the 3rd day of this Test Match between England and Sri Lanka. Good batting from Jayawardene and Sangakkara has put the Test Match Sri Lanka's way, and as every over goes by, the match goes further away from England.

The batsmen and fielders have made their way into the middle, as the Sri Lankan innings continues. It's a good sunny day, there will be no rain to aid England...

Day 3: Lunch: Openers make cautious start after Lankan tail is cleaned up...

England did not have to wait long for the frustration to end. Samaraweera (74), who looked set for a big innings, only added 6 runs to his overnight score, before he was runout by Strauss in a terrible mix-up with Chaminda Vaas. Vaas was edged Ashkey Giles to FLintoff on 11. Fernando and Muralitharan both managed 7, but fell to Giles and Harmison respectively.

Latish Malinga was left not out on nought, with Sri Lanka allout for 489 off 151.2 overs.

With Sri Lanka leading by 314 runs, English openers Marcus Trescothick (18 not out off 48 balls) and Andrew Strauss (14 not out off 37 balls) were in no mood to attack, and batted their way to lunch.

At Lunch on the 3rd Day, England were 33/0 off 14 overs, trailing by 281 runs with 10 wickets in hand.

Images: Trescothick and Strauss will need to continue for much longer if England are to have any chance.

 

[Hamish]

1st Test: England vs Sri Lanka

Welcome back after Lunch on the 3rd day. Trescothick and Strauss have made a cautious start to England's 2nd innings, and much is needed from them for the home team to have any chance.

We now take you back to the action...

Day 3: Tea: Trescothick battles on after Strauss and Pietersen fall...

England's hopes for a big opening partnership were washed out, after Strauss was dismissed in only the 2nd over after Lunch. Malinga, bowled one of his trademark skiddy deliveries, caused by his side on action, and the low bounce of the ball caught Strauss unaware, hitting the front pad right in front of off-stump, Strauss out for 16 off 41 deliveries.

The new batsman, Kevin Pietersen, smashing 2 brilliant fours through mid wicket and one to cover, but all he managed was a rapid start, when he mistimed a flick off the pads, which was caught by Samaraweera at square leg, KP heading back for his 2nd score of 20 in the match.

Trescothick scored a painstaking 50, with Ian Bell at the other end, to save England any more troubles. Bell almost made a big mistake, mistiming a slog sweep off the bowling Muralitharan, but luckily it sailed over deep square leg for 6.

Trescothick (67 not out off 158 balls) and Bell (26 not out off 61 balls) remained not out at Tea, with the score at 132/2 off 48 overs.

Images: Trescothick leaves yet another delivery, in an effort to stay at the crease...

 

[kookaburra69]

trescothick moving along slowly but he will have to score a lot more runs for England to escape this match.

 

[Hamish]

1st Test: England vs Sri Lanka

England are certainly fighting hard now, led by Trescothick. It's still a big ask for England, as Sri Lanka are still right on top and will want to make a big dent in the opponents confidence.

End of Day 3: Trescothick falls, but Bell continues to fight...

Trescothick and Bell continued the innings, with Trescothick set to reach his Test century. The pair managed to add on 110 runs for the 3rd wicket, before part-time spinner Dilshan claimed the breakthrough. Trescothick went on the front foot to a doosra, and edged a simple catch to Jayawardene at short leg, ending his innings at 88 off 219 deliveries.

The wicket did little to silence Ian Bell, who continued to defy the bowlers, not allowing a single chance as he left or defended the good balls, and smashed the not so great. Michael Vaughan accompanied Bell, and both batted their way to stumps. England may have one good note from this match, Muralitharan has not been able to trouble the batsmen, and has no wickets to his name in this match yet.

Michael Vaughan happy to defend, with 10 not out off 47 balls at the end of the 3rd day. Likewise for Ian Bell, who was unbeaten on 75 off 166 balls. The score at stumps on Day 3 was 215/3 off 83 overs, trailing Sri Lanka by 99 runs.

Images: Ian Bell came to the fore, with a vital innings, his career heading in the right direction...