Cricket - England defy weather and Sri Lanka to record remarkable win in Cardiff
Last updated 5/31/2011 8:39:33 AM
Cricket - England defy weather and Sri Lanka to record remarkable win in Cardiff
England's bid to become the world's top cricket nation took a remarkable and unexpected step forward when they defeated Sri Lanka by an innings and 14 runs in Cardiff.
On the face of it nothing too exceptional in an early season first test but only cricket's biggest optimists could have foreseen such a result when captain Andrew Strauss declared England's first innings closed in mid afternoon with just a 96 run lead.
It would have been so easy for Strauss to allow Ian Bell and Morgan to batter the weak Sri Lanka attack to get in batting practice for the rest of the summer with over 15 hours of play lost during the Test because of wet conditions and for the fourth time in five days, the start of the day's play was delayed by persistent rain in the Welsh capital, with the first delivery bowled just after three o'clock.
England faced just two overs, allowing Bell to reach his century, before declaring and even as tea was taken Sri Lanka, with two wickets down, looked set for a tame draw.
But then they lost eight second-innings wickets after tea to hand England a stunning victory.
"We were not expecting this at the start of the day, it beggars belief to a certain extent," said Strauss.
"We were not expecting a huge amount, although we knew it was an awkward time for them to bat.
"It was one of those situations as a batsman you have nothing to gain and everything to lose.
"There was some really high-quality bowling at both ends which meant we were able to take wickets at both ends."
The victory was made even more unlikely by the fact that England were reduced to just three front line bowlers with James Anderson absent with a side strain. However, Chris Tremlett and Stuart Broad produced a hostile opening spell, extracting movement and bounce on what had been a placid wicket for Sri Lankan seam duo Thisara Perera and Suranga Lakmal.
But it was the dismissals of experienced pair Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, with over 18,000 Test runs between them, after tea which contributed to Sri Lanka's joint fourth lowest total in Test cricket in a humiliating defeat.
Strauss said: "We hit them hard with the new ball, got the early wickets and built more momentum as the innings went on.
"For Broad and Tremlett to bowl with ferocity was a great effort. The general feeling of intensity was excellent too."
Sri Lanka's skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan admitted the defeat was "difficult to explain".
"I can't believe we got out in just 25 overs with such a good batting line-up like we have. We lost the match because we batted really badly," he said, "It was a very good wicket with a little bit of turn and a bit of bounce," he added.
"In the last two days it was good for batting, but we didn't bat well, that was the main issue, but it was really good for Test cricket."
Man-of-the-match Jonathan Trott's second Test double hundred had created the foundations for England's seamers to wreak havoc alongside Graeme Swann, ripping through Sri Lanka's brittle batting line-up in the late Cardiff sunshine.
Steven Finn remains favourite to replace the missing Lancastrian Anderson in Friday's second test but Ajmal Shahzad, Graham Onions and Jade Dernbach will all be vying for contention when national selector Geoff Miller convenes his panel alongside fellow selectors Ashley Giles and James Whitaker.