Sri Lanka Beat England In The First Test As Herath Takes Six

Sri Lankan left-arm spinner Rangana Herath took another six wickets, in the second innings of the first test against England, to help Sri Lanka win the match by 75 runs. Herath had taken six wickets in the first innings of the match to take his tally to twelve for the match.

England began the day on the overnight score of 110 for 2 with both Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott at the crease. Pietersen fell early with the score on 118, chipping an easy catch to Jayawardene at mid-wicket off Randiv. Ian Bell who came in his place, didn’t last long, falling soon for 18 with England score on 152. Matt Prior who has in past played spin better that most of his teammates came in to join Trott. The pair added 81, in what was to prove to be the biggest partnership of the innings for England. After Prior’s wicket the rest of the batting collapsed, finally England getting bowled for 264.

Trott who was the eight wicket to fall also played a resilient innings scoring a century. Through his knock, trot watched wickets fall at the other end as England slumped to their fourth successive defeat. Though England in general and Trott in particular ran Sri Lanka close, the islanders always looked the team that would in the match. England’s woes against spin bowling have again exposed their inability to play it. England has four days to work around their problems before the second test starting from next Tuesday at Colombo.