Sri Lanka Stumble To 81 For 4 On Rain-Hit First Day

Rain kept the players from the pitch for a better part of more than two hours after the lunch break. Immediately on the resumption of play after rain, Tharanga Paranavitana was sent back by a Chris Tremlett-in-dipper to reduce Sri Lanka further to 23 for two. The in-form Paranavitana made only 11, taking up 43 deliveries to get there.

Three overs later, it was James Anderson who stuck for the second time on the first day and it led to the most important wicket of the day. Stand-in captain for the game, Kumar Sangakkara got sucked into playing away from the body and only nicked one to the wicket-keeper and Sri Lanka had lost three wickets for six runs.

An over later, it rained once again and the players were off the field with the visitors at 29 for three.

This time, it was a near, two-and-a-half hour break that kept the players indoors before the last one hour or so, of the first day resumed. And much like the first break, Tremlett stuck to get rid of Mahela Jayawardene (4) as the Lankans slipped further into a quagmire.

With only Thilan Samaraweera and wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene as the last two of the recognised batsmen remaining, it looked like England captain Andrew Strauss had made the right choice by fielding first.

Fortunately, the pair of Samaraweera and Jayawardene were able to bat out the last one hour or so, facing nearly 15 overs and added 42 to take Lanka to 81 for four.

Earlier, in the first session, Sri Lanka had played out 13 overs under cloudy, seaming conditions, but lost one wicket for 23. Debutant Lahiru Thirimanne was the first batsman out. England lead the series 1-0 and need only a draw here to win the series.