COLOMBO: Such was the complexion of Sri Lanka’s post-Tea capitulation that four outstanding catches by Keaton Jennings at short leg and a ravishing second-wicket partnership of 164 runs by Sri Lanka stood enviously pale in comparison.
Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid, the two bowlers at the bottom of Joe Root’s pecking order today, forged a memorable bowling coalition on either side of Tea to bring down Sri Lanka in a whirlwind during the second day’s play of the third Test on Saturday (November 24), helping England take a lead of 96 runs in the first innings.
Going into Tea, Sri Lanka were well-placed at 183 for 2 despite losing Dhananjaya de Silva on 73 in the lead-up to it. Rashid had provided the breakthrough for England, who risked going through the session without picking a wicket. A threatening partnership between Dimuth Karunaratne and de Silva had seen the worst of England’s fielding too, with Root dropping two catches at first slip off Stuart Broad’s bowling and Stokes missing a straightforward run out opportunity to leave the visitors seething.
As a result, both Karunaratne and de Silva racked up fifties - not in any way only driven by the lifelines on offer - to set Sri Lanka on course for parity, if not a lead. Rashid then slit through, getting de Silva to nudge one to short leg. It was Jennings’s second of the four stunning catches at that fielding position, the first being a blinder to help Jack Leach dismiss Danushka Gunathilaka.
Sticking to the bowling combination of Stokes and Rashid, something that Root chanced upon very late in the day, paid rich dividends in the third session, where Sri Lanka lost six wickets for 39 runs in just the first hour. It all started with Karunaratne’s dismissal in the first over after Tea, when he was caught at a slightly unconventional backward short leg position to give Rashid his second wicket. Stokes kept chipping at wickets from the other end, bowling short with hostility to even account for Angelo Mathews as one of his three wickets.
Score Board
England first innings
R Burns b Perera 14
Jennings c Silva b Pushpakumara 13
J Bairstow b Sandakan 110
J Root c Gunathilaka b Sandakan 46
B Stokes c de Silva b Sandakan 57
J Buttler c & b Sandakan 16
M Ali c Mathews b Perera 33
Foakes c Dickwella b Pushpakumara 13
A Rashid not out 21
S Broad b Sandakan 0
M Leach c Mathews b Perera 2
Extras (b7, lb3, nb1) 11
Total (all out, 92.5 overs) 336
Fall of wickets: 1-22 (Burns), 2-36 (Jennings), 3-136 (Root), 4-235 (Stokes), 5-254 (Bairstow), 6-265 (Buttler), 7-294 (Foakes), 8-328 (Ali), 9-329 (Broad), 10-336 (Leach)
Bowling: Lakmal 11-2-33-0, Perera 32.5-1-113-3, Pushpakumara 20-3-64-2, Sandakan 22-0-95-5, de Silva 5-0-16-0, Gunathilaka 2-0-5-0
Sri Lanka first innings
M Gunathilaka c Jennings b Leach 18
F Karunaratne c Jennings b Rashid 83
D de Silva c Jennings b Rashid 73
B Mendis c Stokes b Rashid 27
A Mathews c Foakes b Stokes 5
A Silva c Jennings b Rashid 3
N Dickwella c Foakes b Stokes 5
M Perera c Foakes b Stokes 0
R Lakmal not out 3
P Sandakan run out 2
P Pushpakumara lbw b Rashid 13
Extras (lb7, w1) 8
Total (all out, 65.5 overs) 240
Fall of wickets: 1-31 (Gunathilaka), 2-173 (de Silva), 3-187 (Karunaratne), 4-200 (Mathews), 5-205 (Silva), 6-222 (Dickwella), 7-222 (Mendis), 8-222 (Perera), 9-224 (Sandakan), 10-240 (Pushpakumara)
Bowling: Broad 9-2-36-0, Leach 18-2-59-1, Ali 13-2-55-0, Rashid 13.5-2-49-5, Root 2-0-4-0, Stokes 10-1-30-3
England second innings
R Burns not out 2
K Jennings not out 1
Extras 0
Total (no wickets, 4 overs) 3
Bowling: Perera 2-1-1-0, Pushpakumara 1-0-2-0, de Silva 1-1-0-0
Toss: England
Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZL) and Sundaram Ravi (IND)
TV umpire: Marais Erasmus (RSA) Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM). —Agencies
