PALLEKELE: Roshen Silva struck a combative fifty and expertly guided Sri Lanka’s lower order to help the hosts gain a first-innings lead of 46 against England on the second day of the second Test on Thursday.

The hosts were handed a five-run penalty in a bizarre incident during the final session, after the match officials ruled Sri Lanka’s batsmen to have breached the law governing deliberate short runs. It took England’s total to 290.

In reply, Sri Lanka were all out for 336 shortly before the close of play with Silva’s 85 being the highlight of their innings here at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

England’s Jack Leach and Rory Burns were both unbeaten on nought, safely negotiating the one over they had to face before stumps were drawn.

Sri Lanka added 171 for their last four wickets to take a crucial lead, which had looked unlikely at one stage.

After resuming on 26-1, they lost nightwatchman Malinda Pushpakumara in the third over to a poor shot.

That dismissal brought Dimuth Karunaratne and Dhananjaya de Silva toge­ther, and the duo built a stand of 96 through some smart batting with England’s bowlers looking bereft of ideas as the partnership grew.

Ben Stokes then stole the show with two brilliant efforts to help England break through Sri Lanka’s resilience with a brace of wickets before lunch.

Stokes sprinted from gully when de Silva prodded to the off side, picking the ball up with one hand and completing a run out with one stump to aim at to dismiss Karunaratne for 63.

Stokes took a sharp one-handed catch at slip to dismiss Kusal Mendis for one off Jack Leach.

Adil Rashid induced an edge from de Silva (59) with wicket-keeper Ben Foakes completing a smart catch.

Angelo Mathews fell in a similar fashion for 20 to Rashid with Foakes holding onto the catch at the second attempt.

Sri Lanka were tottering at 165-6 at that stage and needed a contribution from their lower order to stop England from gaining a sizeable advantage.

Niroshan Dickwella (26) and Silva proved up to the task with a 46-run stand for the seventh wicket before England captain Joe Root made the breakthrough by dismissing the former leg before.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND (1st Innings) 290 (S.M. Curran 64, J.C. Buttler 63, R.J. Burns 43; M.K.D. Perera 4-61, P.M. Pushpakumara 3-89).

SRI LANKA (1st Innings, overnight 26-1):

F.D.M. Karunaratne run out 63
J.K. Silva b Leach 6
P.M. Pushpakumara c Burns b Moeen 4
D.M. de Silva c Foakes b Rashid 59
B.K.G. Mendis c Stokes b Leach 1
A.D. Mathews c Foakes b Rashid 20
A.R.S. Silva c Moeen b Rashid 85
N. Dickwella lbw b Root 26
M.K.D. Perera lbw b Leach 15
A. Dananjaya lbw b Moeen 31
R.A.S. Lakmal not out 15

EXTRAS (B-6, LB-5) 11

TOTAL (all out, 103 overs) 336

FALL OF WKTS: 1-22, 2-31, 3-127, 4-136, 5-146, 6-165, 7-211, 8-252, 9-308.

BOWLING: Anderson 14-2-40-0; Curran 4-0-19-0; Leach 29-5-70-3; Moeen Ali 25-1-85-2; Rashid 22-2-76-3; Root 8-0-26-1; Stokes 1-0-9-0.

ENGLAND (2nd Innings):

M.J. Leach not out 0
R.J. Burns not out 0

EXTRAS 0

TOTAL (for no wkt, 1 over) 0

BOWLING (to-date): Perera 1-1-0-0.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2018